Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate will vote on disaster relief next week, right before the lawmakers leave town for Memorial Day. He’s hopeful that the Senate will vote on legislation that the president is willing to sign. While the House passed a disaster bill last week, congressional leaders and the White House have been hard at work on a bipartisan bill that can get through both chambers easily. Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby says that senators are on the verge of an agreement. Politico says McConnell, Shelby, and Trump all have interests that have been holding up the deal. McConnell is a big supporter of the hemp industry and is looking to make sure crop insurance by 2020 for hemp producers is in the legislation. Shelby wants more money for harbor maintenance while Trump is pushing for more funds to address border security. Negotiators say the biggest points of contention yet to work through are nearly settled. Both sides have agreed to provide Puerto Rico with hundreds of millions in additional aid, an important point that Democrats had asked for.

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says President Trump is looking forward to a trade deal with Japan “sooner rather than later.” The website FX Street Dot Com says Perdue called on Japan to quickly strike a trade deal with Washington that would cover farm products and a host of other goods. Perdue says the two countries can’t kick the trade can down the road forever and the president would “welcome an agreement” when he meets with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (AH-bay) later this year. In the same comments, Perdue acknowledged that a quick deal might be difficult. The details of the negotiations, including the timing of an eventual deal, are being left to the top negotiators of both countries. “We are very much aware of the elections of the upper body of Japan’s Parliament in July,” Perdue says. “We are respectful of that, but President Trump is expecting that Japan would treat us as the premier customer we are.” Trump hosted Abe at the White House last month. He hopes to clinch a deal in time for his visit to Tokyo on May 25-28.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would meet with Chinese President Xi (Zhee) Jinping next month. The announcement comes as the trade war between the two largest economies in the world grew even more intense. Reuters says China has already announced it would retaliate on a host of American goods, ranging from frozen vegetables to citrus fruits to natural gas. That move followed the Administration’s decision to hike tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Reuters says Trump mentioned this week that he would talk to Xi at a G-20 summit in late June. “Maybe something will happen,” he said during remarks at the White House. “We’re going to be having a meeting, as you know, at the G-20 in Japan and that’ll be, I think, probably a very fruitful meeting.” Speaking later at a White House dinner, Trump said it’ll be clear in three or four weeks if a U.S. trade delegation’s trip to Beijing two weeks ago was successful. China’s top diplomat says talks aren’t supposed to be a “one-way street” and need to be conducted on the basis of equality.

Department of Agriculture officials say support for farmers dealing with depressed markets will be made available quickly. President Donald Trump has promised farmers $15 billion in aid following the latest round of tariffs implemented Friday. Speaking to farm broadcasters Tuesday, a slew of USDA officials discussed the new aid being prepared for farmers. USDA undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs Ted McKinney suggests a new package of aid for farmers is “days away.” McKinney also confirmed the formula for the payments will differ from the previous formula, which rewarded higher production and was not available if a farmer couldn’t produce a crop. Details are still being finalized and Farm Service Agency administrator Richard Fordyce says he has not received any instruction regarding distributing the payments. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue confirmed the trade aid plan Friday, after previously stating there would be no additional aid this year. However, the failure to reach an agreement with China last week, and the additional tariffs, is putting more strain on U.S. farmers.

The Chinese Finance Ministry made the expected announcement on Monday that it would respond to the most recent hike in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. China will raise tariff rates on $60 billion in U.S. imports, including agricultural products. The Ministry will boost tarif rates in June on more than 5,000 U.S. products. Agricultural commodities that will cost more in China include citrus fruit, berries, vegetables, and nuts. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both said over the last several days that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin work immediately on a new trade assistance package for U.S. farmers and ranchers in the event that China retaliated. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue echoed that pledge on Friday in a Twitter post. While at the G-20 Ministerial Meeting in Japan, Perdue said China indicated they would retaliate against the U.S. tariff hike. “If and when they do, President Trump is committed to supporting our producers who may be harmed by the retaliatory efforts of China,” Perdue said in Japan. An Agri-Pulse report says it wasn’t even a month ago that optimism was running high that the trade war would soon be ending. However, that optimism quickly disappeared after U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (Muh-NOO-chin) returned from talks in Beijing.

The American Soybean Association says U.S. farmers are frustrated by the lack of progress between the U.S. and China in bringing the trade war to a close. The dispute threatens soybean prices and farmers’ ability to even stay in business. The ASA has consistently opposed using unilateral tariffs to address U.S. trade deficits with China and other countries. The organization supports the negotiation of trade agreements and other measures that can increase U.S. agricultural exports, including soybeans. “The U.S. has been at the table with China 11 times and still hasn’t closed the deal,” says ASA President Davie Stephens. “What that means for soybean farmers is that we’re losing a valuable market, stable pricing, and losing an opportunity to support our families and communities.” He says the trade negotiations are directly impacting farmers’ livelihoods. The organization says the soybean industry realizes the Administration’s reasons for trying to force China to make structural changes to its predatory economic policies. However, ASA continues to recommend that the U.S. achieve these goals through coordinated actions with like-minded countries. “The soybean market in China took 40 years to build,” Stephens says, “and as this confrontation continues, it will become increasingly difficult to recover. Soybean farmers aren’t willing to be collateral damage in an endless trade war.”

President Donald Trump further hiked tariff rates on $200 billion on Chinese imports last Friday. Now, the administration is trying to assure farmers and ranchers that they’ll get more help to deal with Beijing’s retaliation. Politico says Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue put out a Twitter post last Friday saying that USDA will be working on a relief plan “quickly.” The president says the administration may buy up to $15 billion worth of U.S. farm commodities and send them to needy countries. However, Politico says that plan might take months to get going, would offer little in the way of relief to farmers, and could possibly sow even more chaos in the world markets. It’s difficult to picture that food aid programs could buy up enough commodities to significantly reduce huge stockpiles and thus give farmers a boost to crop prices. That’s the opinion of former USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber. The Trump trade agenda is facing the double-whammy of increasing tensions with China and major opposition in Congress to the USMCA trade pact. As Trump eyes the 2020 election cycle, Politico says there isn’t a lot to show for his trade promises other than frustrated farmers and a turbulent stock market.