More tariffs are expected from Mexico after the nation announced its 20 percent tariff on U.S. pork earlier this week. The list of tariffs from Mexico includes apples, cheeses, potatoes, cranberries, and “Tennessee” and bourbon whiskies, among other items. Mexico is responding to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs enacted by President Trump and put into place last week, after exempting Canada, Mexico and European Union previously from the tariffs. The tariffs will impact just more than one percent of all U.S. exports to Mexico, but will have significant impact on targeted industries, including agriculture. Farmers for Free Trade released a statement this week saying the tariffs “will exact immediate and painful consequences.” Meanwhile, the European Union has planned retaliatory tariffs on U.S. motorcycle’s, jeans and whiskey. Those tariffs will start in July.

New polling shows that voters across three Midwestern states are disappointed with Trump Administration decisions regarding biofuels. Released by the National Biodiesel Board this week, a survey of voters in Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota overwhelmingly say they support federal policies to encourage growth in biodiesel and renewable fuels use. Their support cut across party lines, with more than two-thirds of Republicans and nearly three-quarters of Independents saying they support U.S. efforts to boost the expansion of the biodiesel industry. In total, 73 percent of voters agreed. A substantial majority of voters in those states, including 63 percent of Independents, say EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s efforts to lower demand for biofuels does not reflect the President’s promise to support renewable fuels and the RFS. More than 80 percent of Republican voters in the survey said it was important to them that President Trump keep his promise to defend the RFS. Find the survey online at www.biodiesel.org/.

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa expressed deep frustration Tuesday regarding the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump. Speaking of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Ernst told an energy symposium in Washington, D.C. “If the President wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet.” Pruitt has been a target of biofuels states after granting hardship waivers to many refineries under the Renewable Fuel Standard, decreasing the amount of ethanol-based biofuels by more than one billion gallons. The Renewable Volume Obligation for the current year was set by Congress at 15 billion gallons. OPIS Biofuels points out that Pruitt “put it in writing” that he would support the RFS, but has not done so. Meanwhile, a proposal to allow year-round E15 sales, along with allowing Renewable Identification Numbers, or biofuels credits known as RINs, to be exported was apparently rejected, or at the least, delayed, by President Trump Tuesday evening. Another rumored change would allow for hardship waivers, but reallocate the displaced volume in the final RVO issued each year by the EPA.

Mexico is retaliating against trade tariffs placed by the United States with tariff on U.S. pork. Mexico Tuesday implemented punitive tariffs starting at ten percent and escalating to 20 percent next month on unprocessed pork. The list, according to meat industry publication Meatingplace, includes a 20 percent tariff on U.S. hams and pieces of ham, as well as fresh and frozen pork legs, shoulders, and their pieces without bones. The Mexican ministry will also open a 350,000-metric-ton tariff-free quota for imports of pork legs and shoulders from other countries. Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. pork, representing nearly 25 percent of all U.S. pork exports. National Pork Producers Council President Jim Heimerl (Hi’-merle) says the tariff “eliminates our ability to compete effectively in Mexico.” In a statement, U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Dan Halstrom said the action by Mexico will “negatively impact everyone in the U.S. supply chain,” along with harming Mexican consumers and “potentially open up a tremendously strong market to a whole new range of competitors.”

Bayer announced it will complete its acquisition of Monsanto Wednesday, June 7th. The closure of the acquisition will follow the receipt of all required approvals from regulatory authorities, according to a company news release. The closure comes two years after Bayer announced the intention to acquire Monsanto. As part of the $63 billion agreement, Bayer will remain the company name, and Monsanto will no longer be a company name, according to Bayer. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio, and Bayer will become the sole shareholder of Monsanto on June 7th. According to the conditional approval from the United States Department of Justice, the integration of Monsanto into Bayer can take place as soon as the government required divestments to BASF have been completed. Bayer expects moving its assets required to be sold to BASF, including the Liberty Link brand, to BASF in approximately two months.

China says any tariffs implemented on the nation by the United States will dampen the ongoing trade talks between the two. The Chinese government in a statement said: “All economic and trade outcomes of the talks will not take effect if the U.S. side imposes any trade sanctions including raising tariffs,” according to Politico. China stressed that the outcome of the talks should be based on “meeting each other halfway.” The comments followed last week when the Trump administration said it was ready to move forward with tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods being imported to the United States. Meanwhile, in previous trade talks, China has agreed to buy more U.S. agricultural and energy goods. A U.S. delegation also spent two days in China last week to discuss trade issues.

A coalition of biofuels and agriculture groups are demanding the Environmental Protection Agency account for lost volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The coalition says the volumes, or gallons in question, were lost to hardship waivers granted to refiners by the EPA, which is estimated at more than one billion gallons of the 15-billion-gallon target. National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Skunes says the lost volumes “are having a negative effect on the nation’s corn growers” at a time when net farm income is projected to hit its lowest point in 12 years. The petition filed by the coalition included the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, the National Biodiesel Board, the National Corn Growers Association, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and National Farmers Union. The group also filed suit in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on the same issue. However, the petitioners at the same time requested that the court stay proceedings for a period of time.