Biden’s order directs the Federal Trade Commission to “consider using its rulemaking authority”  to address “unfair anticompetitive restrictions on third-party repair or self-repair of items, such as the restrictions imposed by powerful manufacturers that prevent farmers from repairing their own equipment.”

Groups on both sides concede that leaves a lot to be worked out.

Brad Griffin, the executive director of the Montana Equipment Dealers Association, is likely correct when he says it will be months—even years—before any final rules from the FTC are effective. Like others representing manufacturers or their authorized dealerships, he recently dismissed right-to-repair proposals as “a solution in search of a problem,” saying manufacturers already provide the tools needed for do-it-yourself repairs.

“What farmers and ranchers want, we have,” Griffin said. “There’s been a huge disconnect, and that is our dealers need to be educated about our tools and software. So do the end users.”

According to Ron Harmon, a long-time farm machinery mechanic and manufacturer, it’s not that simple. Harmon owns an independent agricultural and construction equipment dealership. In the past decade, as independent mechanics and farmers have increasingly pushed the issue, he said the industry has repeatedly fallen short of its promises to provide access to the tools needed to repair farm machines and get them running again.

“Let me tell you what that really meant—it did absolutely nothing. Zero,” Harmon said. “All they would allow that diagnostic kit to do is tell you what’s wrong.”

He’s referring to the diagnostic tools that the companies sell, which work similarly to the code readers that diagnose a problem when the “check engine” light comes on in your car. But with the technological complexity of modern ag equipment, he said there are additional tools needed to communicate with the tractor’s computer in order to actually perform the repair. Harmon insists that even the simplest fixes, like swapping out a sensor or replacing a gauge, ultimately require specialized software that interacts with the tractor’s computer and tells it that the problem has been fixed. Until that happens, the machine won’t start.

While some right-to-repair advocates dismiss the likelihood of real change coming from the federal government, others see Biden’s executive order as a victory.

“If they’re being told by the FTC that they have to provide access to the farmer and rancher to the right to repair their own equipment, they can’t get around that,” Walter Schweitzer, president of the Montana Farmers Union, said.

Deere and other manufacturers have pushed back against farmers’ attempts to gain access to embedded software that the companies say affects engine performance and controls pollution-reduction systems required by government emissions standards. Modifying that software to make engines run faster, or circumvent emissions controls for better fuel economy, could wear down components and risk breakdowns as tractors and harvesters age.

“That really creates problems when a dealer takes in equipment on a trade-in,” said Kim Rominger, president of the Equipment Dealers Association.

The FTC, unlike other federal agencies, is independent; the president’s authority over it is limited. But in May, the FTC released a report that indicated it may be inclined to take action on right to repair.

Based on past opposition and success by the major tractor manufacturers and dealer associations in blocking legislation at the state level, legal challenges are likely even if the FTC were to write strong right-to-repair rules.

If nothing else, the president’s recent actions have turned the hot light of public opinion on the issue, which makes it likely actions at the state level will continue. To date, 30 state legislatures have addressed right-to-repair legislation. Not one state has passed substantive legislation.

Progressives, labor unions and the business community are squaring off over the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The bill would make it easier for gig workers and other independent contractors to unionize and set an enforceable timeline for union-employer negotiations to commence. It would also undercut states’ right-to-work laws by allowing unions to collect dues from workers who opt out.

The path of the union bill is hazy as Congress starts to transform Biden’s outline into legislation. The labor proposal doesn’t square with Senate rules on what sort of legislation can typically be advanced with just a simple majority; most Republicans oppose it and several Democrats in the 50-50 chamber have been noncommittal.

Biden plans a series of discussions with Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the contents of his package. A White House official didn’t specify if the president wants the PRO Act written into an infrastructure bill or just pursued as a complement to it. “The president supports the PRO Act and wants to see it passed in its entirety,” the official said.

Tim Schlittner, communications director for the AFL-CIO, said removing the act from the emerging legislation would be a mistake.

“The labor movement turned out in force in 2020 to elect this president and flipped the Senate,” Schlittner said. “And if our number one priority is tossed aside, I think it would be a disaster for the Democratic party.”

Supporters of the legislation say it would ensure jobs created by the Biden infrastructure proposal are higher-paying, as more workers would be able to join unions that could negotiate on their behalf. The union legislation is a key priority of labor unions and the party’s left flank, which also sees it as a way to stem widening income inequality.

Opponents say the legislation would impose sweeping changes to labor laws that have little to do with the president’s spending plan and amount to a giveaway to unions, and would stifle business and economic growth.

University of Missouri economist Aaron Hedlund, who worked at the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Trump administration, said the bill could weigh on growth, by eliminating right-to-work laws and upending the business model of franchise owners. Franchise groups have opposed the act, saying it would eliminate labor distinctions between national brands and independent operators.

“That will affect every sector, not just those involved in infrastructure,” Hedlund said.

Union membership fell to 10.8 percent of the overall workforce in 2020, down from its recorded peak of 20.1 percent in 1983, according to the Labor Department, reflecting slower employment growth in more unionized industries such as manufacturing and transportation.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Just hours after President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling for talks between the two countries regarding land border crossings amid the pandemic—and a new plan for those border crossings within 14 days after talks conclude—Trudeau made clear that he doesn’t want Canadians crossing their borders.

“The bottom line is this is not the time to travel either internationally or even across the country,” Trudeau said at a press briefing, citing the growing COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. “With spring break coming, people need to hunker down, stay home, make sure we kill the second wave of the virus so that we can get through into the spring—and the increase in millions of doses of vaccines that will be arriving in Canada—in the best position possible.”

While Trudeau’s message may seem at odds with Biden’s, people who have been pushing for a broader border reopening say it is not. Trudeau’s current, pandemic-specific hesitation is not indicative of his longer-term interest in seeking what Biden seeks at the border.

The U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico have been closed to nonessential travel since March 21 in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The closure has resulted in a ritual in which both the U.S. and Canada extend the closure for another month every month.

Over those months, Canada has developed a different set of rules than the United States for who can cross the border. While both nations limit land border crossings to essential travel, Canada has looser rules than the U.S. for family members who wish to reunite with their loved ones.

Source: The Buffalo News

Joe Biden ran on a platform that envisioned increased taxes on investors and businesses, a public health insurance option for Obamacare, lower prices on drugs, and plans to confront climate change and empower unions.

The legislation needed to implement much of that agenda might not get past the Senate. Based on the likely outcome of races yet to be called, including runoffs in Georgia, Republicans have the edge to keep control. More fiscal stimulus is likely, though less than congressional Democrats had proposed.

Biden could still wield considerable influence through executive actions and regulatory agencies, but those may be curbed by a more conservative judiciary and a Senate disinclined to confirm left-of-center appointees.

A Biden presidency would also break with some features of Trump’s administration that weren’t popular with some businesses: tense trade relations with other countries, restrictions on foreign workers and sharp criticism of companies, by name, on Twitter.

COVID-19

Business leaders worry about the resurgent pandemic. Since a vaccine may not be widely available before spring, they face the possibilities of returning to tighter restrictions and a reduced workforce.

Biden would mandate masks on federal property and urge state and local governments to require them as well. He would produce federal guidelines on when and how much states, schools and localities should dial social-distancing restrictions up or down depending on local infections. He would direct more federal resources toward developing more convenient, faster tests to detect COVID-19 and more drive-through sites for testing and contact tracing.

These steps to bring the pandemic under control faster could be at the expense of near-term economic disruptions from localized, targeted lockdowns. But Biden, like Trump, can’t compel states to comply, and many conservative states may resist.

Businesses are also counting on more federal stimulus to speed up the recovery. Biden hasn’t specified the details of any stimulus he would propose as president, since that would depend on what is enacted before the current Congress adjourns.

Democrats originally sought at least $2 trillion, including support for state and local governments to avoid layoffs; enhanced unemployment insurance benefits; and a replenished Paycheck Protection Program for small business. But with Republicans hopeful that they will retain control of the Senate, they will continue to oppose that much aid. A final package likely will be far smaller.

Taxes

Biden’s tax plans include raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from its current 21 percent (though still below 35 percent, where it stood under President Obama) and the minimum tax on foreign income to 21 percent from 10.5 percent.

He also pledged to repeal the 20 percent deduction for “pass-through” business income. (The Farm Bureau has pointed out that more the 98 percent of farm and ranches operate as pass-through businesses: sole proprietorships, partnerships and Sub S corporations. Noting that failure to extend important pass-through provisions will result in a tax increase for farmers and ranchers and leave them without ways to deal with the cyclical and unpredictable nature of their businesses.)

If Republicans control the Senate, they would likely block these tax proposals.

Because Biden could implement much of his labor and environment agenda through executive action and regulatory agencies, much rides on whom he appoints, a signal whether his approach will be more conciliatory or confrontational.

During the election, he reassured business leaders their world wouldn’t fundamentally change. The Journal suggests companies would be more likely to believe that if, for example, he picked Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard, an economist who served under Barack Obama, to serve as treasury secretary. They’d be alarmed if he chose Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Trade

Whether Biden will remove President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China is unclear, but the president-elect is unlikely to impose new ones.

“It’s really going to be one of the few policy areas where Biden can show results and do so unilaterally,” said Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a longtime trade lawyer. “Because some of his signature policies are dead-on-arrival, he’s going to need to show progress elsewhere. That’s where trade and immigration will play a pretty prominent role.”

Biden has called for a united front of pressure on competitors, most notably China. Polls suggest both Democratic and Republican voters hold increasingly less favorable views of China.

In addition, four years of Trump’s trade policy showed that many Republicans are no longer the free-traders of years past, and may seek to prevent Biden from pursuing policies seen as globalist.

Biden has described his international priority as rebuilding relationships with U.S. allies, which he could start by negotiating an end to some tariffs.
Biden has said that rather than antagonize traditional economic allies, he would seek to work with these nations to form an economic bloc to confront China.

Source: Wall Street Journal, American Farm Bureau Federation

Question: The United States has worked assertively over many different administrations to set the example for fair and open trade, for resolving trade disputes using sound, science-based principles and standards and for gaining access to new markets. As president, how would you be a proponent for expanding trade and pursuing remedies against nations and their leaders who use various barriers to unfairly shield their markets from competition?

Biden Response

We will develop a comprehensive strategy to aggressively enforce our laws in an effective way whenever it is needed. Critically, we will also look at what new approaches and tools are needed to combat unfair trade practices jeopardizing production and jobs here and to gain access for our products in other markets.

We must address the continuous efforts to evade and circumvent our trade laws and undermine the effectiveness of our trade cases. The issues of global overcapacity, foreign state-owned enterprises, and other problems undermine our interests and can’t continue. Workers deserve to know that their government will stand by their side and stand up for their rights so they don’t have to fight unfair trade on their own or see their jobs offshored and production outsourced.

Foreign cheating will not be allowed in our administration.

Trump Response

A major focus of the Trump Administration has been to renegotiate trade deals that were weak and provided inadequate market access and import protection to US farmers and ranchers. Previous Administrations negotiated trade deals that put our farmers and ranchers in a negative position to those that we compete with in foreign markets. To address this, the Trump/Pence Administration negotiated the following significant multilateral trade agreements:

• Korea
• Japan
• USMCA
• China phase 1
  • No one knows better than our nation’s farmers and ranchers that for decades, China has stolen our technology, restricted US foreign investment, manipulated their currencies and kept US farm products out of their market.
  • China has begun making purchases under the phase 1 commitment, and in a second Trump Administration term China will have to come back to the table for more access to American farmers.

In each of these agreements the Trump/Pence Administration has negotiated better deals for farmers and ranchers than what was in place previously.

The strategy of negotiating key trade deals on a multilateral basis has been a primary focus of the Trump/Pence Administration. While the Obama/Biden Administration negotiated weak trade deals, focusing on multilateral negotiations, the Trump/Pence team negotiated successful trade agreements with the above.

In addition to the new agreements President Trump has negotiated, we have also stood by are farmers when they were targeted by unjust trade retaliation. Other countries, China in particular, thought they could force us to accept more bad trade deals by targeting our farmers. We have taken some of the revenue we received in tariffs and we have provided $28 billion in direct support to those farms and commodities that have been unjustly targeted.

For too many years, American trade policy has allowed other countries to take advantage of us. Joe Biden doesn’t have a plan on trade, he will revert to the Obama-Biden years of letting China take advantage of us.

President Trump is very grateful to the American farmer for their patriotism that enabled him to stand up to the Chinese and be the first president to force them to change their practices that have resulted in the loss of millions of jobs in the U.S.   President Trump will never ask the American farmer to bear the cost of our important work to make China play by the same rules as the rest of the world

We know our farmers want markets, they want to grow and produce things to sell here in America and to the world, we also know that they want fair and reciprocal trade deals. The farmers have stood with us as we have taken on these unfair trade practices, and we have stood with them. When President Trump wins a second term, other countries already know he means what he says on trade, and we will continue to see more favorable agreements reached in a second term. There will be more opportunities with China if they decide to take more steps to play by the rules, we will get a bigger deal done with Japan, we are in talks with other major Asian countries. President Trump is also eager to finalize a new U.S.-U.K. Trade agreement that includes significant agriculture access, and hopes that can pave the way for progress with the EU as well, one of the most unfair markets to many of our America farmers.

Question: Reliable food supplies and stable prices are critical for the United States’ long-term prosperity and economic well- being. Programs in the farm bill, set to be renewed in 2023, provide key safety net and risk management tools for farmers, as well as critical tools to help farmers implement resource-conserving practices on the farm as well as trade promotion programs that help us build new markets abroad.

Sustained, effective and predictable policy through the farm bill is necessary to address the threats that farmers have faced historically and new threats we now face to provide a consistent food supply. This includes defending and strengthening crop insurance for risk management that is affordable and flexible for all producers. As president, how would you be a proponent for enhancing farm policy programs to bring certainty to farm and ranch families through crop insurance, improved risk management programs and support for beginning farmers and ranchers, while also bringing much-needed funding to trade development and agricultural research?

Biden Response

Crop insurance and risk management tools are incredibly important to farmers, especially in light of the most recent wind storm in Iowa, the fires out west, the drought in the Midwest, and Hurricane Laura in Texas and Louisiana. A Biden-Harris Administration will understand the important role crop insurance plays and will make sure the safety net is there for those who need it.

We also will strengthen our agricultural sector by pursuing a trade policy that works for American farmers.  of all crops grown and products raised in the United States are exported,  and helping to stabilize farm income. But America’s farmers and rural communities have paid a heavy price for President Trump’s tariffs. While Trump is pursuing a damaging and erratic trade war without any real strategy, we will stand up to China by working with our allies to negotiate from the strongest possible position. More information on what our administration’s trade policy will be can be found in the next section on international trade.

A Biden-Harris Administration will support beginning farmers. America tries to make it easy to start a business, but unless you inherit the land, it’s much more difficult to start a farm. We will expand the Obama-Biden Administration’s , doubling the maximum loan amount to $100,000. And, it will increase funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s  that typically serve beginning farmers who grew up on a family farm but need low-cost capital to add to their family’s operation to support another household.

We will reinvest in land grant universities’ agricultural research so the public, not private companies, owns patents to agricultural advances. We’ll reinvest in agricultural research by bolstering funding for the  and the . Our farmers need new technologies to compete in world markets while protecting our soil and water. These new technologies – and the next new seeds – should be developed and owned by the American people, not private companies who can use patents to expand profits.

And, we will strengthen antitrust enforcement. From the inputs they depend on – such as seeds – to the markets where they sell their products, American farmers and ranchers are being hurt by increasing market concentration. The Biden-Harris Administration will protect small and medium-sized farmers and producers by strengthening enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Packers and Stockyards Act.

Trump Response

President Trump supported and signed the 2018 Farm Bill, and the Trump/Pence Administration worked expeditiously to implement the critical legislation.

The Trump Administration has implemented several new programs in the 2018 Farm Bill which have helped support our farmers during these uncertain times. This includes the dairy margin coverage program which has helped dairies across our country, especially in leading dairy states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, California, New York, and Pennsylvania withstand difficult market conditions. The Administration has worked on regulations that will support the burgeoning hemp industry, establishing rules that will lay the foundation for this to become another crop rotation option for farmers across the country. The Administration has also implemented provisions that will ensure the health of our nation’s livestock sector, even as we have seen disease threats like the African Swine Fever decimate China’s pork industry. Through new Farm Bill tools, we are working to ensure we keep these diseases out of the United States and developing vaccines and tools that can protect our domestic industry should we ever encounter such threats.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for Farm Bill programs that will help farmers prepare for the threats of tomorrow while maximizing productivity today.

President Trump believes that a new farm bill must be generous to our farmers and must do a better job of sustaining them through these tough times. The new farm bill cannot impose new regulatory or climate requirements on already struggling farmers. The smallest farmers will be the hardest hurt by new and unfunded mandates in the new farm bill.

Future Farm Bills must focus on building on the key pillars of our domestic farm policy including a strong crop insurance system, voluntary conservation programs, and increased agricultural research. Our farmers are the most innovative and productive in the world, and our farm policy must continue to unleash this great potential.

In addition to the Farm safety net, the Trump Administration has worked to ensure our farmers have had adequate protection from the Market Facilitation Program responding to unjustified trade retaliation; to Disaster programs that have come to aid our farmers that faced drought, fire, flood and snow across the Southeast, the midwest, and the West; to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Our farmers have faced much adversity, but as the heroic patriots they are, they have continued to get the job done, and the Trump/Pence Administration has boldly stood with them in that work.