Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue offered his thoughts on President Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. Perdue, nominated by Trump in January and confirmed by the Senate in April, says Trump “has rightly determined that the Paris accord was not in the best interests of the United States.” Perdue says the agreement would cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars and millions of jobs. Business Insider reports that the U.S. is the world’s second-largest carbon emitter, after China. The publication also says that most greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas, but they also come from using fertilizers, raising livestock and maintaining landfills. Perdue said the Paris accord would have a “negligible impact on world temperatures.” He says Earth’s climate has been changing since the planet was formed, and that the U.S. Department of Agriculture remains “firmly committed to digging ever deeper into research to develop better methods of agricultural production in that changing climate.”

The Donald Trump administration is pledging a plan of bilateral trade negotiations with individual countries, but Politico speculates his latest move may hinder negotiations. President Trump removed the U.S. from the Paris climate accord last week, joining just Nicaragua and Syria as the only nations not to sign the pact. Politico says the withdrawal sets up the potential for other countries to use Trump’s decision as reason not to cooperate with him on other negotiations, including trade, or to implement tariffs in retaliation. Beyond simply refusing to negotiate, trading partners could also take steps to hit U.S. products with a so-called carbon tariff, a levy that would increase the cost of American goods to offset the fact that U.S. manufacturers could make products more cheaply because they would not have to abide by Paris climate goals. U.S. Senate Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon says by leaving the Paris agreement, the Trump administration is “putting a bull’s-eye on American exporters and the jobs they support.”

The parent company of JBS SA will pay $3.2 billion in a settlement with Brazil over bribery and corruption charges. Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports the fine will be paid over 25 years and is the largest ever in a leniency agreement worldwide. The leniency agreement addresses the involvement of the company in a bribery and corruption scheme with Brazilian politicians, revealed by company executives in a plea bargain deal in April. Only the parent company of JBS, the J&F holding company, will be responsible for paying the fine, with the first payment expected in December. Earlier this year, Brazil indicted 63 people for their role in a corruption scheme within the nation’s Ministry of Agriculture. Suspects in the case were charged with falsifying medical records and certificates, tampering with food products, conspiracy, and corruption. Allegations also included selling spoiled meat and injecting water to sell poultry at higher prices.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office says no deadline has been set to finalize North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations that can’t begin until mid-August. Officials from Mexico have suggested that Mexico and USTR Robert Lighthizer have agreed on a December 15th deadline to wrap up the negotiations. However, the USTR office told Politico this week no date has been set, but added “the sooner we can conclude negotiations, the sooner we can address the concerns of the president and the American people with NAFTA.” By U.S. law, negotiations can begin 90 days after the USTR notifies Congress, which Lightizer and the Donald Trump administration did May 18th. Mexico is eager to wrap up the negations quickly as the nation is facing an upcoming presidential election next year, and because of that, officials in Mexico say they cannot continue talks in 2018.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. will withdraw from the historic Paris Agreement, an accord among 192 nations to combat the impacts of climate change. Echoing concerns raised in a recent letter to President Trump, National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson said the President’s decision “rejects science and U.S. leadership in an effort that requires global attention.” Johnson says family farmers and ranchers are already enduring consequences of climate change, and projections indicate these effects will worsen without an immediate and significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. He says the decision by President Trump “fails to recognize the very real and immediate threats of climate change to family farmers, ranchers, and our nation’s food security.” Johnson called the move by Trump “shameful,” saying the U.S. “cannot sustain a viable food system if climate change is left unchecked.”

A coalition of agriculture groups has asked Congress to include language in an appropriations bill to allow ten states to increase commercial truck weight limits. The coalition is asking Congress to allow the states to engage in a pilot program to obtain information on the safety and environmental benefits of increasing the maximum commercial truck weight on interstate highways. In a letter sent to leaders of the House Appropriations Committee, the coalition noted that it’s been 35 years since the government last updated the gross vehicle weight limit of 80,000 pounds on federal interstate highways. Meanwhile, all 50 states have passed exceptions allowing trucks greater than the weight limit to operate on local roads. Also, more than 30 states have higher limits on their portions of interstate highways. Under the pilot program, ten states could opt-in to allow 91,000-pound, six-axle, bridge formula-compliant trucks on federal interstate highways within their borders, and collect additional safety data regarding the gross vehicle weight and axle configurations of commercial trucks involved in serious accidents.

A new industry report suggests improvements in optimism in agriculture is fueled by discussions over federal tax and regulatory reform. Farm Policy Facts reports policy experts are hopeful the momentum will continue, especially if Congress makes sound decisions regarding farm policy, which provides a foundation for the rural economy. Agricultural equipment sales have increased for six straight months, and the outlook for future sales is promising, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest says one of the best ways to help all growers turn the tide is by combining legislative certainty on the farm policy front with lower taxes and continued reductions in regulatory burdens. Combest says: “We need stronger policies right now, not weaker ones, and if lawmakers can provide that kind of certainty, farmers are poised for a comeback.”

A railroad company that exports U.S. agricultural products to Mexico is closely watching the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation effort. Kansas City Southern Railway Company CEO Pat Ottensmeyer told KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri: “We once branded ourselves the NAFTA railroad.” Since NAFTA took effect, the railway has grown to send 40 percent of its business to Mexico. The CEO says a strong agriculture industry would rally the railway through any NAFTA uncertainty. Agriculture exports have grown 330 percent since 1993. Ottensmeyer is part of the U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue Group formed in 2013, a private sector voice on trade and economic issues when negotiations happen between the two countries. While President Trump plans to renegotiate NAFTA and has threatened to end the agreement, Ottennsmeyer says as time goes on, he gets “more and more confident that there is going to be a reasonable resolution” to the NAFTA discussions.” The company says it would be extremely difficult for the President to remove the United States from NAFTA, without the approval of Mexico and Canada, adding that any taxes or tariffs would also have to go through Congress.