ADVOCACY REPORT
Current Updates in our Nation’s Capital President Biden nominated Mr. Doug McKillop as the Agricultural Ambassador at USTR. Ms. Alexis Taylor was nominated to be Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at USDA. These appointments are very helpful for agricultural trade and filling these two positions is very important for us. It places agriculture trade negotiators in position to work on market access.
Ukraine. There are global concerns around food insecurity and accelerating food inflation. Inflation continues to impact every American. Chief economists report that central banks are increasing interest rates at the fastest pace American’s have seen in more than three decades. Due to increasing inflation, the Biden Administration is trying to respond. In May, President Biden released a three-part plan to tackle inflation in an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal. His three points include relying on the Federal Reserve to control inflation; making things affordable for families; lastly reducing the federal deficit. Both Republicans and Democrats are frustrated with the rising inflation and labor shortages. It is expected that this will be an important issue in the midterms. In-person work in the Federal government has returned. Senior officials at the Agriculture Department were called back to work in person at the end of February. Now most USDA employees are back in the office.
President Biden announced his Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at the end of May. The framework outlines a partnership with 12 other nations, including Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. China is not included in this agreement. This, in conjunction with President Biden’s remarks that the United States will defend Taiwan if China invades, will cause tensions with China to rise. It is expected that the world will experience a significant grain and wheat shortage due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict. It has now been over 130 days since Russia first invaded
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ALMOND FACTS
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