United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is introducing legislation this week that would help to regulate the dispute settlement process for United States ag trade.
Grassley says that USTR took too long to act when attempting to settle the dispute with Mexico over its proposed GMO corn ban.
Yesterday, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA is providing $2.3 billion to help American producers maintain and develop markets for their commodities.
Some of the funds will use U.S. commodities to boost international food aid. A request for the funding initially came from the Senate Ag Committee’s leadership, so USDA will be utilizing funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation to address challenges related to trade and food insecurity impacting U.S. farmers and the international community.
Senator Grassley has previously voiced concerns about utilizing funds from the CCC without the authorization of Congress. In July Grassley helped to introduce the USDA Spending Accountability Act which would limit the disbursal of funds through the USDA’s financing institution, known as the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), to be permitted only when authorized by Congress.
Despite past criticisms, Grassley says the money will help Iowa’s farmers.
Also yesterday, Navigator CO2 officially withdrew its petition to build a pipeline in Iowa that would transport captured carbon dioxide for sequestration underground. Grassley says the issue is left for each state to decide.
The Navigator proposal was one of three pipelines originally proposed for Iowa along with pipelines built by Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions.
