Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor had positive things to say to the 20 members of the House Biofuels Caucus. The Caucus sent a bipartisan letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler in support of year-round E-15 sales. The lawmakers in the caucus called on the EPA to finish lifting outdated restrictions on the biofuel blend in time for this summer’s driving season.

“We are grateful for the continued support of champions on both sides of the aisle who are fighting for a strong rule that will ensure more biofuels reach consumers at the pump,” Skor says. “The rural economy is at a breaking point. It’s vital that the EPA act by June 1 to uphold the president’s commitment to farm families and allow retailers to keep more homegrown fuel on the market this summer.”

The congressional letter to Wheeler says, “Our farmers, renewable fuels producers, and retail gas stations stand to benefit from the adjustment of volatility requirements for E-15 during the summer driving season of June 1 through September 15.” The group says they are concerned that the EPA proposal would create inefficiencies in the marketplace due to “unnecessary restrictions on the components that can be used for fuel blending.”

Chinese purchases of Canadian soybeans have “slowed to a trickle,” according to the Financial Post. Those purchases have dropped 95 percent in the first few months of 2019 because of “tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.” The purchase decline comes in addition to Chinese authorities ramping up pre-entry inspections of shipments from Canada.

Soybean shipments from Canada to China plunged to just 3,282 tons between January and March, down from just shy of 73,000 tons during the same period a year ago. The sudden drop in exports is even more eye-opening when compared to Chinese purchases late last year. China purchased a record 3.2 million tons of Canadian soybeans over the last four months of 2018.

“Trade with China fell off a cliff,” says Ron Davidson, Executive Director of Soy Canada. “They slowed to a trickle after December. Now, exporters are being told that their shipments are being held for further testing and that China is testing for things it never has before.” China also stripped the import permits of two Canadian canola exporters. They’ve also halted more purchases of canola over concerns about “prohibited pests” found in shipments.

Beijing says it’s in “no rush” to get talks going again between the U.S. and China. That’s from the South China Morning Post. The Chinese newspaper says the country is prepared to not meet with President Trump if he’s “not prepared to be realistic.” In the article the Chinese government appeared to invite a U.S. delegation to make a trip to Beijing for more discussions.

However, there’s no schedule set in stone yet and CNBC says negotiations are “in flux.” The South China Morning Post says Chinese state media outlets have gone on the offensive. An international relations expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences tells the paper, “There’s no need to get into frantic calculations about when Trump will come if the U.S. continues to lack sincerity. After all, enough has been said by both sides in many different rounds of talks.”

A Peking University international relations professor says, “The standoff should last for a while because the U.S. has refused to make even the slightest compromise, to a point that’s somewhat unreasonable.” China put retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to President Trump increasing tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods.

The tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum imports are history, removing a key barrier to ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. However, Democrats are still not close to giving full support to the Trump Administration’s biggest trade victory.

Agri-Pulse says Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says, “There are still many other issues that are outstanding before Democrats would support the USMCA.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants changes made to USMCA that would add enforcement regulations to Mexican labor reform. They’d also like to reverse an agreement with Mexico and Canada to extend patents for certain pharmaceutical drugs to 10 years.

Wisconsin Representative Ron Kind, a Democrat with the House Ways and Means Committee, says his fellow Democrats want some changes in the body of the agreement. Side letters won’t be enough. U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer is listening to Democrat concerns but is growing frustrated with the overall number of those concerns, as well as the number of Congressional members on the fence when it comes to the trade deal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says if USMCA can get through the House, it won’t have a problem getting through the Senate and to the president’s desk for signature.

The Mexican government published an official notice that Mexico has removed its retaliatory duties on U.S. pork. Canada’s Department of Finance announced that Canada will immediately eliminate the 10 percent tariff that Canada imposed on prepared beef items from the United States.

U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Dan Halstrom says restoring duty-free access to the Mexican and Canadian markets is a tremendous breakthrough for the U.S. red meat industry. “USMEF thanks President Trump and Ambassador Robert Lighthizer for reaching an agreement with Mexico and Canada on steel and aluminum tariffs,” Halstrom said.

“We’re also grateful for Mexico and Canada’s lifting of retaliatory duties on U.S. red meat.” Halstrom also says this will remove a significant obstacle for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The USMEF says they’re hoping that all three countries will ratify the new North American trade agreement as soon as possible.

U.S. Ag groups representing different sectors of the industry were pleased that the Trump Administration reached a deal to remove the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico and Canada last week. National Sorghum Producers Chair Dan Atkisson says the move will “hopefully clear the way for USMCA to be ratified by Congress and enacted soon, providing more fair and open markets north and south of our borders.”

The trade group Tariffs Hurt the Heartland is pleased with what it called “long-overdue news. We’re hoping the administration sees the folly of imposing tariffs and taxing Americans.” American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says, “Retaliatory tariffs are a drag on American farmers and ranchers at a time when they’re suffering more economic difficulty than many can remember. Farm Bureau believes in fair trade and eliminating tariffs is critical to achieving that goal.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association VP of Government Affairs, Colin Woodall, says his group, “Fully supports USMCA and now is the time for Congress to work with the president to get it passed as soon as possible.” The National Corn Growers Association says it’s also pleased to hear the news, saying “Mexico and Canada are the U.S. corn industry’s largest and most reliable markets.”

The Advanced Biofuels Association is asking a Washington, D.C., Circuit Court to block the Environmental Protection Agency from exempting any small refiners from their 2018 biofuel blending requirements. The requirements are part of the Renewable Fuels Standard. The trade association is hoping to start on oral arguments for an injunction as soon as possible.

The EPA and refiners have been pointing to a court decision in the Sinclair vs. EPA case, which said the EPA was setting the requirements for waivers too high. The EPA and the refiners have used that as justification for expanding the number of exemptions. But, as Reuters reported Thursday, the methodology change happened months before the court decision in August of 2017. The ABA court filing says the new EPA approach ignores all Department of Energy recommendations for partial exemptions and universally awards full exemptions.

EPA issued no denials for the 2016 and 2017 compliance years. They also have 40 applications for 2018 waiting for a decision. An EPA spokesman says, “The state of the Renewable Fuels Standard and the small refinery exemption program have been subject to court opinions prior to and during the Trump Administration.”