Following the election of Donald Trump and the significant changes anticipated for the US economy from a Trump 2.0 presidency;
Paula Bauer, Vice President Agricultural Consumer and Retail, North America at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on some of the changes expected in the US agribusiness industry from Trump 2.0:
“Overnight, there appears to be a small exhale as the country knows who will occupy the Senate, House and White House. Today’s primary focus is economic policy, and with a single party in control in the House, Senate and Presidency, we could finally see a farm bill put in place early next year with an outside chance of an extension of the expired 2018 Farm Bill during this lame duck session.
“Only 20% of the total U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget is spent on agriculture programs and subsidies. Nutrition assistance spending including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is 80% of the budget. With a relatively small percent spent on crop assistance, it could be argued the real power in a farm bill is the sense of stability. Markets like stability.
“Instabilities, however, could come in the form of trade and renewable energy policies. US Farmers are really good at what they do. So good, in fact, that much of what is grown is sold to other countries. Care must be taken in trade policy to not alienate buyers.
“Additionally, US Ag occupies a large space in the energy sector. Will energy policies and renewable fuels standards change come January 2025? As a party, the Right has been critical of electrification of vehicles because some power plants are ‘dirty energy’. Even if support for electrification falls out of favor, the US may retain gains made in adopting ethanol and biofuels for internal combustion engines and continue to support SAF technologies for air travel. Support for this could be found in pro-environmental groups, Ag groups, pro-domestic energy consortiums and businesses who’ve invested heavily in this technology including major petroleum companies.
Fonte: GlobalData