Several major Ag organizations and lawmakers representing farm states reacted negatively to the president’s budget proposals. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says agriculture has done more than its fair share to help reduce the deficit over the years. “The Administration’s budget proposal fails to recognize agriculture’s current financial challenges or its historical contribution to deficit reduction,” Duvall says. The National Farmers Union called the president’s budget proposal an assault on the farm safety net and rural communities. “It’s deeply disappointing that the president would propose such cuts, especially in the midst of a farm crisis that has families who’ve lost 50 percent of their farm income over the past few years,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. U.S. Wheat Associates is disappointed that the budget proposal eliminates funding for the USDA’s Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program. “Without funding for these vital programs,” says USW President Alan Tracy, “we would not be able to continue the training necessary to promote our product and our competitors would swoop in and overtake American producers in foreign markets.” He adds that the effect on wheat prices would be obvious.

A Reuters report says President Trump’s budget proposal contains $46.54 billion in cuts to government funding in the Ag sector, with those cuts spread out over ten years. The biggest proposed cut is $38 billion dollars from farm support programs. Those cuts include new limits on federal subsidies for crop insurance premiums and a cap on potential commodity program payments. The president proposes a 36 percent cut in the federally subsidized crop insurance program. That’s a larger cut than what the Obama Administration proposed and was ultimately rejected by farm state lawmakers. Crop insurance cuts would yield the largest savings, including $16.2 billion by limiting the government’s share of premiums. It would also save $11.9 billion by eliminating the harvest-price option. The proposed budget cuts would actually eliminate the Rural Development Program, which provides zero-interest loans to rural utilities and support to rural businesses. It would also reduce government costs for federal inspectors at meat plants in two years by adding $600 million in user fees for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The United States stands to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even though President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the trade agreement. New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay told Radio New Zealand the U.S., and other non-TPP countries, will benefit from the changes to the sharing of pharmaceutical information. However, no added benefits extend to agriculture, which TPP was thought to increase U.S. agricultural export sales by $4 billion. McClay of New Zealand was meeting with his counterpart in Japan this week to discuss whether the current text of the TPP should remain in place, or if changes to the agreement should be made. In a news release, Japan and New Zealand officials said the nations “remain committed to maintaining the unity among the TPP nations and “early entry into force” of the agreement. The two countries also confirmed a continued cooperation in concluding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, an Asia-Pacific trade deal under negotiation that excludes the United States but includes China.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says the head of the Agriculture Department’s rural development efforts would be confirmed by the Senate, as included in his USDA reorganization proposal. He made the remarks during a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the state of the rural economy Wednesday. Perdue, who announced the reorganization plan last week, said the head of the rural development mission area under his plan would be an assistant secretary confirmed by the Senate. But, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says the change must be approved by Congress. A spokesperson with the Coalition told the Hagstrom Report that what Perdue said “cannot be true,” unless USDA proposes legislation to Congress to create the new assistant secretary position. By law, USDA is limited to three assistant secretaries, according to the Coalition.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said this week he hopes the U.S. will rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that is worth billions of dollars for U.S. agriculture. Japan is continuing to push to finalize TPP, following Donald Trump removing the U.S. from the agreement. The 11 remaining members have started discussions on how to proceed. Prime Minister Abe told CNBC this week “Japan must now take on a leadership role and bring the talks forward,” because of the U.S. dropout from the agreement. The prime minister added that “momentum” should not be lost, but he left the door open for a U.S. return to the deal. He says: “Since the U.S. understands the importance of having free and fair rules in the trading world, it is our wish that the U.S. will return to TPP.”

Senate Agriculture Committee leaders want the Department of Agriculture to address a dairy pricing issue between the U.S. and Canada. Senators Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow are pressing USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to provide continued engagement with Canada over its dairy pricing policies that are harmful to U.S. dairy producers. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the Senators say: “The potential for further and greater injury to U.S. producers will only continue to grow if this scheme remains in place.” The Senators also asked USDA and the USTR office to evaluate all tools available to mitigate any damaging effect from the pricing scheme being implemented by Canada.

Officials from Mexico visiting Washington, D.C. this week are sporting a clear message that a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement will not include any new tariffs or quotas. The group from Mexico hopes to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer later this week to start the first talks of renegotiation, which they say is expected to happen quickly. Mexico’s Economy Secretary told Politico: “Nobody wants this agreement, this negotiation, to extend for too long because then it will get in the middle of the Mexican presidential election and the U.S. congressional election.” A speedy renegotiation would minimize chances of Mexico from rejecting any agreement, if the negotiators can finish the process by the July 2018 presidential election in Mexico. A graphic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows the 1994 NAFTA agreement represented a $4 billion increase in agricultural exports.