California Farm Bureau on WOTUS and Tariffs are Leverage with China

**California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson told leaders of the EPA that the pending “waters of the United States” rule, or WOTUS, must provide protections for normal farming activities.

Johansson addressed agency officials while leading a June 16 Western states roundtable discussion.

He said, “California’s farmland provides many social and ecosystem benefits” and that “small, family-owned businesses” shouldn’t be saddled with costly legal expenses for their sustainable farming practices.

**The U.S. has tariffs in place on over $300 billion worth of Chinese imports, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai says those duties are useful negotiating tools that give the U.S. significant leverage on China.

Bloomberg says a debate is ongoing among members of the Biden administration on whether to keep those tariffs in place for the time being.

Tai says,“The China tariffs, in her view, are a significant piece of leverage, and a trade negotiator never walks away from leverage.”

**The Senate Ag Committee passed the bipartisan Meat Packing Special Investigator Act.

The legislation will address anticompetitive practices in the meat and poultry industries.

Senator Chuck Grassley says, “With the passage of this bill, his years-long beef with Big Cattle is one step closer to being settled.”

The legislation would create the Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters within USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Division.