USDA Chief Says Congress Risks Sanction Without Farm Bill
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A failure by Congress to pass a new agriculture law by Sept. 30 could void a trade agreement that has kept Brazil from imposing sanctions on U.S. imports, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
The 2010 deal through which the U.S. pays Brazil $147 million a year to aid its cotton industry won’t be funded once the current farm law starts expiring at the end of next month, Vilsack said today in a telephone interview from Brasilia. He met in the Brazilian capital with the acting foreign minister and agriculture minister of the biggest South American economy.