Current Cattle Market Daily Headlines for Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Mackenzie Johnston
Newspapers and Laptop. Different Concepts for News - Network or Traditional Tabloid Journals. Data Sources - Electronic Screen of Computer or Paper Pages of Magazines, Internet or Papers
USCA joins letter to Secretary Perdue on U.S. beef
On Monday, the United States Cattlemen’s Association joined eleven other national, regional, and state groups in a letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting that U.S. meat and meat processors be prioritized within the USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
The program provides food boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and meat products to folks experiencing financial hardship due to the ongoing pandemic.
The letter questions the current regulatory loophole which USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service acknowledged allows for imported beef to be labeled ‘Product of the U.S.A.’
USCA along with other groups included in the letter are concerned that the current regulations governing beef and pork products could allow for misspending of federal aid dollars to be spent on imports, and foreign goods.
The groups want to be sure the USDA prioritizes applicants who have shown established relationships with independent regional meat processors to fill their order
Besides USCA, a few of the other groups that singed onto the letter include: Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, Independent Beef Association of North Dakota, Family Farm Action Alliance, and many others.
Trump says could ‘decouple’ and not do business with China
In a Fox News interview on Sunday, President Trump said there is a possibility the U.S. economy could cut ties with China.
In the interview Trump stated that the U.S. doesn’t have to do business with China. If China doesn’t treat the U.S. like they should, Trump feels that he will certainly decouple from China.
A partial Phase 1 trade deal was reached with China back in January after a high-stakes trade war. Since then, Trump has shut the door on Phase 2 negotiations because he was unhappy with Beijing’s handling of the pandemic.
In June, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies would occur if U.S. companies were not allowed to compete on a level playing field in China’s economy.
