Declining Workforce Numbers and Tariff Threats - Mexico and EU
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**The USDA no longer recognizes race- or gender-based criteria when it comes to farm programs, dropping the "socially disadvantaged" designation.
A final rule was published in the Federal Register announcing the "Removal of Unconstitutional Preferences Based on Race and Sex in Response to Court Ruling."
Effective immediately, the rule will affect about 20% of
USDA's total farm-loan volume, loans and programs for roughly 4.5% of ethnic producers, and more than 1.2 million women farmers.
**Declining labor force participation, lower birth rates and a collapse in net migration are combining to squeeze the U.S. labor supply.
The looming labor shortage could weigh on businesses and strain economic growth this year, according to the quarterly report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange.
The labor force participation rate has trended downward since 2000, and could be accelerating.
Nearly 2.5 million working-aged people dropped out of the labor force in the past eight months alone.
**After weeks of negotiations failed to produce a trade deal, President Trump threatened to put a 30% tariff on imported goods from Mexico and Europe beginning August 1st.
Reuters says the EU and Mexico, among the largest of U.S. trading partners, responded by calling the tariffs unfair and disruptive while pledging to continue to negotiate with the U.S. for a broader trade deal before the deadline.
The effect on U.S. agriculture could be significant.
