The U.S. and China are inching closer to an agreement on trade that could be reached this month, according to those close to the talks. Bloomberg reports an agreement could be reached and finalized later this month during a planned summit between China’s President and President Donald Trump. As part of the potential agreement, China would lower tariffs on agricultural products.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at the 2019 Commodity Classic last week told reporters, a “magnificent conclusion to the U.S.-China negotiations will involve doubling and tripling our farm exports to China.” Perdue also said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for a final agreement.

President Trump put off a planned round of tariff increases to start the month. However, the U.S. wants to continue to have the threat of tariffs as leverage to ensure China will comply with any agreement.

Members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership saw their beef exports to Japan grow by more than half in the month of January. The members’ share of the market hit 56 percent, while U.S. beef exports to Japan grew 21 percent. However, the U.S. share of the market shrunk by six percent. The industry website Meating Place Dot Com says the news comes on the heels of U.S.

Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer saying he’d like to begin discussions on a bilateral trade agreement with Japan in March. U.S. producers lost out on Japan’s tariff decreases, which eventually will drop to nine percent, since President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the trade pact in 2017.

The Japanese Finance Ministry says TPP members Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico shipped 33,000 metric tons of beef to Japan in January, up 56 percent year over year. The tariff rate for these countries dropped from 38.5 percent after the agreement took effect down to a current 27.5 percent.

The National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers, and the National Sorghum Producers announced their collective support for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. The announcement came as the organizations took part in the Commodity Classic, held in Orlando, Florida.

The groups say Mexico and Canada account for 25 percent of all U.S. agriculture exports and the USMCA preserves and builds upon the existing trading relationships between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Members of all four organizations will be advocating members of Congress to ratify the agreement this year. They’ll also be urging the administration to keep the current NAFTA agreement in place until the new one is ratified.

NCGA President Lynn Chrisp says, “Mexico and Canada are the corn industry’s largest, most reliable market. In fact, Mexico is U.S. corn’s number one buyer.” Davie Stephens, ASA president, says, “Passage of USMCA would boost both national and rural economies, and for soybeans, it would ensure tariff-free access to two strong markets.” Wheat Growers President Jimmie Musick says, “USMCA will include tariff-free access to imported U.S. wheat for our long-time flour milling customers in Mexico.”

The World Trade Organization found that China exceeded its agreed-on limits for government subsidies on multiple crops. Politico notes that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says the case could indeed become part of the negotiations and hoped-for trade deal with China. Lighthizer says there’s another WTO challenge in process that targets how China administers its import quotas on multiple agricultural products.

Lighthizer told the House Ways and Means Committee last week that they’re trying to resolve those issues with China within the context of a potential agreement. White House Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC that the outlook for a deal with China is “very positive.” That’s a different outlook than the one Lighthizer had during testimony to the Ways and Means Committee in which he said, “there’s still substantial work that needs to be done.” President Trump did say last week that they’ve made “major progress” in talks with China but also acknowledged the possibility things could still collapse.

During a press conference in Vietnam, Trump said, “I’m never afraid to walk away from a deal. I would do that with China, too, if it didn’t work out.” Also, on the trade front, the Trump Administration published its key objectives for a potential agreement with the United Kingdom, the first step in the process of beginning trade negotiations.

U.S. Wheat Associates, along with other commodity groups and the USDA, welcomed a ruling from the World Trade Organization dispute panel regarding Chinese grain subsidies. The WTO panel ruled that Chinese government payments to farmers for grains exceeded China’s WTO agreements and significantly distort global wheat trade.

The dispute panel formed after the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office challenged China’s domestic agricultural support programs for wheat, corn, and rice through the WTO dispute settlement process back in September of 2016 during President Obama’s administration. USW President Vince Peterson says they’re pleased that the Trump Administration has continued to support his group through the dispute. “U.S. farmers have been hurt by China’s overproduction and protectionist measures for too long,” Peterson says, “and it’s past time for China to start living up to its commitments.”

A 2015 Iowa State University study said China’s domestic market support price for wheat at the time of almost $10 per bushel cost U.S. wheat farmers between $650 and $700 million annually in lost income by preventing export opportunities and suppressing global wheat prices. “The past two decades have been a lost opportunity for the WTO negotiating function as major countries like China have refused to take on new responsibilities,” Peterson says. “Perhaps this will be the wake-up call countries need to realize restricting trade opportunities hurts everyone.”

The Senate approved Andrew Wheeler as the Head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The former coal lobbyist was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 47. The Washington Post said Wheeler was a “veteran of Washington political and industry circles who’s aided in President Trump’s push to roll back environmental regulations put in place under former President Obama.”

At his confirmation hearing in January, Wheeler talked about the dozens of rules that the EPA has rolled back over the past few years. He also made it explicitly clear to lawmakers that he intends to continue the Trump Administration’s reversal of environmental regulations. “Through our deregulatory actions, the Trump Administration has proven that burdensome federal regulations are not necessary to drive environmental progress,” Wheeler claimed at his confirmation hearing.

Wheeler also claimed that “Certainty and the innovation that thrives in a climate of certainty are key to progress.” In addition to the rollbacks, Wheeler has also rolled out initiatives he says are aimed at reducing lead exposures around the country.