Ag News: Tariffs Cost Agriculture and Vilsack on Supply Chain Issues

**The Army Corps of Engineers is investing over $829 million for modernizing locks and dams on the Mississippi River.

The funding came through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says, our agriculture, manufacturing, and shipping industries rely on a functioning and efficient lock and dam system to move goods.

Grassley was one of 19 Republicans to back the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

**Tariffs imposed on American ag exports in retaliation on Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from key trading partners cost agriculture a lot of export sales.

Combine that with the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports and China’s retaliatory actions, and it led to an overall loss of $27 billion in U.S. ag exports from mid-2018 thru 2019.

Canada, China, the European Union, India, Mexico, and Turkey all responded to U.S. tariffs by imposing retaliatory duties on America’s ag and food exports.

**Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the USDA went to work early in 2021 on addressing supply chain disruptions the ag sector experienced during the pandemic.

He identified a wide range of improvements, which produced a more diversified food system that serves farmers, ranchers, and consumers.

Vilsack says it took several USDA steps, including providing $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funds for expanding independent processing capacity in the U.S.