President Trump’s nominees to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department made it across the finish line and are now officially cabinet secretaries. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. turned out to be an ultra-controversial nominee for HHS secretary and was grilled extensively by several Senate committees. Then there was Brook Rollins who easily won approval for USDA secretary by Senate committee members. So, as oversight of the food industry is an integral part of both USDA and HHS operations, these are the new leaders our food industry will be working with over the next four years.
Kennedy is an environmental lawyer with prior and sometimes strange positions on food issues, commercial-scale farming, and health policies. His new leadership position at HHS also includes oversight of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HHS has over 80,000 employees and a trillion-dollar budget. In related news, Dr. Sara Brenner has been named acting commissioner of the FDA, replacing Dr. Robert Califf. Brenner was a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the first Trump administration. Kennedy can keep her on the payroll or replace her.
Rollins, the new USDA Secretary, is a former White House domestic policy adviser and becomes the second woman to lead the USDA, following Ann Veneman, who served under President George W. Bush. She is a Texas native with deep ties to agriculture and conservative policy advocacy and will oversee USDA’s $200 billion budget with 100,000 employees She will also oversee USDA programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program and school meal regulations. Many ag organizations including the National Cattleman’s Beef Association and the National Chicken Council lauded the Rollins appointment.
Farm Bill
One of the very first issues the new USDA secretary will tackle is the reauthorization of the potentially trillion-dollar farm bill, which funds farmer safety nets, rural development, and government nutrition programs. Rollins’s other tasks include helping structure Trump’s plans to streamline federal bureaucracy and enforce tariffs on foreign goods.
Currently at press time, the House agriculture committee is closely scrutinizing roughly $150 billion in spending cuts related to SNAP which is part of the farm bill. Savings will come from reducing SNAP error payment rates, updating SNAP work requirements, and limiting cost of living adjustments. House Republicans are continuing to pressure their colleagues to find even more savings. On the other side, House Democrats are drawing a hardline though when it comes to taking away or reducing SNAP benefits for the needy. Hopefully, the new USDA secretary will muster enough support to finally reauthorize the five-year farm bill which should have occurred in 2023.
Back Again – Country Of Origin Labeling
Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have just reintroduced a bill to require country of origin labels (COOL) on meat, an issue I have written about many times in my past commentaries. COOL has long been a priority of non-government groups representing farmers and ranchers, but meat companies have opposed it.
In explaining the new COOL initiative, the publication Food Policy Tracker reported that “groups that represent the interests of American farmers and ranchers have been pushing for truth in labeling on meat products for years because they say cheaper, unlabeled imports put domestic producers at a disadvantage. Last year, the Biden administration’s USDA closed a loophole that enabled importers to use the ‘Product of USA’ label even when animals were born and raised outside of the country. The American Beef Labeling Act would also require importers to label meat with the country it comes from.”
GAO Takes Aim At USDA And FDA
The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) last month issued a report critical of USDA and FDA food safety efforts and included specific recommendations to improve food safety. The FDA quickly responded back to GAO saying that their biggest problem in conducting food safety inspections is understaffing. That problem could become even more critical in wake of Trump’s efforts to reduce staffing levels throughout the federal bureaucracy.
The GAO report pointed out, according to Food Safety News, that the safety and quality of the U.S. food supply is governed by at least 30 laws and 15 governmental agencies, including USDA. The GAO also pointed fingers at officials from the CDC and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The oversight agency’s recommendations for improving food safety focused on development of a new prioritization plan to address pathogen reductions, drafting a series of new memorandums of understanding so everyone is on the same page, and rolling out new educational materials as well as increasing food facility inspections. We expect food safety to be a major issue for the two new USDA and HHS cabinet secretaries.
Tariffs Anyone?
As you know from news media reports, one of the key aspects of President Trump’s “America First” trade policy is the implementation of tariffs on a wide variety of incoming goods to the U.S. However, during last month’s Senate confirmation hearing for Jamieson Greer for U.S. trade representative, Greer stated such a policy required careful study before implementation. What IS the thinking on both sides of the aisle about tariffs? For your educational lesson for today, the following are comments I read in the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor when their editors addressed the question of whether tariffs work or not.
The correct answer the Ag Economists said was: “It depends. Tariffs drive a wedge between prices in the exporting country and in the importing country. It depends on the circumstances of markets and how much is reflected in higher prices in the importing country and reduced prices in the exporting country.”
The Ag Economists also added, “Both the exporting nation and the importing consumer pay some portion of the tariff depending on who has more flexibility to adjust the trade barrier. If exporting countries can easily switch to supplying other markets, they will not have to pay. If consumers can easily find cheap substitute goods they will not have to pay.”
So, do tariffs work? The answer is not as straightforward as you might think. But be warned that tariffs set the stage for a trade war and retaliatory tariffs that could have a major impact on the U.S. economy and farmers….and ultimately consumers.
Food Safety Summit
The 2025 Food Safety Summit is scheduled for May 12-15 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL and will bring together leaders from across the food industry to discuss pressing challenges, regulatory issues, and innovative solutions in food safety. I’ve attended this annual event in the past and can attest that it is well worth your attendance.
Billed as the “Super Bowl” of food safety events, the summit will feature key decision-makers from every stage of the supply chain, including growers, manufacturers, retailers, food service, etc. The event is produced by Food Safety Magazine. There is an early bird discount available until April 1. For more details or to register, visit food-safety.com/food-safety-summit.
Congrats To Ahold Delhaize USA And Lidl US
Retailers Ahold Delhaize USA and Lidl US have been named among the top employers in the U.S. by the Top Employers Institute, which singles out organizations dedicated to exemplary human resource policies and people practices. Congrats to Ahold and Lidl USA!
Barry Scher is associated with the public policy firm of Policy Solutions LLC and can be reached at Bscher@policy-solutions.net.
