The Western Growers Association says recent comments by Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicate the Justice Department will focus on deporting felons, not farm workers. Sessions recently told Fox News the Justice Department does not intend to target illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes beyond illegally entering the country. Western Growers Association CEO Tom Nassif called the comments encouraging. Nassif says: “The Attorney General’s comments confirm what we in the agriculture industry have understood to be the Administration’s interior enforcement policy: ICE activities will be directed toward deporting felons, not farmworkers.” He points out that much of our agricultural productivity is owed to the hard work of foreigners, in particular, the harvesting the nations nutritious fruits and vegetables. With agricultural employers facing a chronic shortage of workers, Nassif says “we cannot afford to exacerbate this problem by threatening to deport our farmworkers, which the Administration clearly understands.”

The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations panel says there will be no budget cuts this fiscal year. North Dakota Republican John Hoeven says the current fiscal year is “too far along” to make an adjustment now, as requested by President Donald Trump. The President has proposed an $18 billion cut in discretionary spending, including more than $1 billion from the Department of Agriculture. Hoeven told Politico earlier this week that appropriation bills will be at the 2017 funding levels set by Congress for this year. Any slashing of funding that may occur, as requested by President Trump, would likely be aimed at the spending package needed to keep the government funded past April 28th, when the current continuing resolution expires. Republican leaders in Congress remain confident an agreement on a spending measure will be reached, avoiding any potential government shutdown.

The U.S. Senate will not be taking a vote to confirm Agriculture Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue this week. Instead, the Senate will be focusing time on a filibuster and confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. With an upcoming recess, the delay means the vote for Perdue won’t happen until late this month, at the earliest. The former Georgia Governor was the final cabinet nomination by President Donald Trump, made the day before Trump’s inauguration. A wait on ethics papers delayed the process further. Perdue’s nomination was voted out of the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, with just one vote against the nomination. Agriculture groups are eager to see Perdue take his office at the Department of Agriculture. Last week, a group of farm organizations signed a letter noting USDA “has been without political leadership for over two months, longer than nearly every other Cabinet-level agency.” The groups added there is a growing list of issues at USDA, “particularly given the troubling economic conditions in rural America.”

The CEO of Deere and Company told CNBC trade rhetoric by President Donald Trump and prospects of a border tax are “worrisome” for global companies. Deere’s Samuel Allen says that “any form of protectionism or nationalism, on the whole, is not beneficial for a company like ours, or any global company.” While Allen notes that a border adjustment tax slapping a 20 percent tariff on imports could help Deere, he says the company is “very concerned” about the proposal’s potential impact on its farmer customers. Allen stated: “If, as a result of the adjustment tax, it has an unintended consequence of causing countries like China and Mexico to buy their ag commodities from other countries, that would be negative for U.S. farmers that do a lot of exporting to China, Canada and Mexico.” Mexico, the top buyer of U.S. corn, has threatened to counter any proposed tax or negative trade impacts from changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement to purchase agricultural commodities from other nations.

A coalition of more than 30 agriculture groups is pressing Congress to repeal the estate tax. A letter sent to the House Ways and Means Committee asked that any tax reform package include permanent repeal of the estate tax. Sometimes referred to as the “death tax,” the levy is imposed on the net value – less an exemption – of an owner’s assets transferred at death. For the 2016 tax year, the exemptions for the estate tax are $5.45 million for an individual and $10.9 million for couples. Transferred estates valued at more than those figures are subject to a maximum tax rate of 40 percent on the amount of assets above those levels. The agriculture groups, which includes the National Pork Producers Council, wrote in the letter saying: “The estate tax is especially damaging to agriculture because we are a land-based, capital-intensive industry with few options for paying estate taxes when they come due.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Grain and Feed Association are calling on the U.S. Senate to confirm Sonny Perdue as Agriculture Secretary this week, before a two-week recess that starts Friday. In a joint statement, the two groups said: “We need him at USDA to begin addressing a backlog of policy issues that are awaiting his attention and to begin the process of filling key positions within the department.” AFBF and NGFA noted that Perdue has the bipartisan support of six former agriculture secretaries, as well as the support of nearly 700 agriculture groups from across the nation. If the Senate fails to schedule a vote this week, his confirmation vote may be delayed until the last week of April, due to the two-week recess. However, getting the vote on the schedule this week may be held up by the confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, which is subject to threatened opposition by Senate Democrats.

The Donald Trump administration is considering tariffs on specific products from the European Union in response to the EU’s ban on American beef from hormone-treated cattle. Trump is considering imposing tariffs of 100 percent on Perrier mineral water, Vespa motor scooters and Roquefort cheese over the issue. The Wall Street Journal reports the beef case will offer an early demonstration of how aggressive the administration is likely to be with trading partners. In 1998, the EU lost a case at the World Trade Organization for banning American beef. In 2009, the U.S. negotiated an agreement to allow limited market access for specially produced beef that meets EU standards, but the U.S. beef industry has been prevented from gaining the intended benefits from the agreement because of increased imports under the duty-free quota from non-U.S. suppliers.

Two Republicans in the U.S. House are urging the Donald Trump administration to craft a trade agreement with Japan. Nebraska Representative Adrian Smith and Florida Representative Ted Yoho introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives Thursday that urges Trump to start the process of establishing a trade agreement with Japan. Congressman Smith says the U.S. “cannot afford” to miss the opportunity to reduce trade barriers with Japan, “especially for U.S. agriculture producers.” Smith pointed out a trade agreement could address the 40 percent tariff on U.S. beef imported to Japan compared to the 28 percent tariff Australia has negotiated. The difference in tariffs allows Australia a competitive advantage over U.S. beef in Japan. Congressman Yoho says a bilateral trade agreement with Japan would “continue to strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship,” noting Japan is the fourth largest trading partner for the United States. The resolution was welcomed by the National Pork Producers Council and the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association.