The administration has no position “either way on this issue at this time,” the White House official confirmed to Reuters. The statements come after news last week that Icahn had reached out to the White House regarding the change.

The debate centers on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a 2005 policy that requires increasing volumes of biofuels to be added to gasoline and diesel each year.

Oil refiners including Valero Energy and CVR Energy currently have to show environmental regulators they are meeting those annual mandates, and have urged the government to push this compliance further downstream to fuel blenders and integrated oil companies.

Opponents of the change say it will complicate ensuring compliance and that it could threaten the future of the RFS policy that sets the annual requirements for use of biofuels with gasoline and diesel.

Confusion over Trump’s plans for RFS sparked wild swings in energy and agricultural markets last week. Icahn, who owns a majority stake in CVR, said he had reached out to the White House about the issue.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also been reviewing requests from oil refiners, including Valero and Delta Air Lines’ Monroe Energy. A public comment period on the issue wrapped up late last month.

Two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters that they have been told by administration officials they are concerned about potential political backlash from biofuels companies and fuel marketers if they make the change that Icahn and Valero are seeking.

— Reporting for Reuters by Emily Stephenson in Washington; additional reporting and writing for Reuters by Chris Prentice.

The post White House still weighing U.S. biofuels program change appeared first on Farmtario.

Trump, speaking at an aluminum scrap metal factory in Monessen, Pa., south of Pittsburgh, said he saw no way to fix the pending 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and that he was willing to withdraw from the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico if it was not renegotiated to his satisfaction.

“The TPP, as it’s known, would be the death blow for American manufacturing,” Trump said.

Trump was unveiling his trade agenda in Pennsylvania and Ohio on Tuesday, manufacturing states in which he and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are battling for working-class voters ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

Democratic President Barack Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio in 2008 and 2012, but those states have been hard hit by manufacturing job losses. Clinton struggled with these voters in her Democratic primary race against U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who criticized her for supporting trade deals and said she was too close to Wall Street.

Trump echoed Sanders’ criticism in Pennsylvania, saying Clinton supported the TPP while she was U.S. secretary of state and only opposed it once she was running for president.

Clinton’s campaign called the presumptive Republican nominee’s remarks an attempt to distract from “his dangerous economic policies.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Emily Stephenson and Amanda Becker; additional reporting by Adam DeRose and Alana Wise.

The post Trump vows to renegotiate or withdraw from trade deals appeared first on Farmtario.

The U.S. Agriculture Department reported on Thursday that Iran bought 120,000 tonnes of U.S. wheat — enough to fill two large cargo ships.

While not illegal, the deal caught traders by surprise as tensions mount between the West and Iran on concerns the Islamic Republic was intent on developing a nuclear weapon.

"It shocked me," said Jerod Leman, a broker with Wellington Commodities Corp. "With everything going on over there with their nuclear problems, I am surprised we sold them anything."

Western sanctions against Iran are making it increasingly difficult for the country to pay for staple foods, causing hardship for its 74 million people.

Because of the tightening financial noose, Iran has resorted to bartering, including swapping gold or tankloads of oil for food, according to commodity traders.

In the last month, Iran has bought or tried to buy nearly three million tonnes of wheat on fears sanctions will disrupt imports and cause bread shortages that could spark food riots.

Iran has asked to import a million tonnes of wheat from Pakistan in a barter deal and also approached India. The Islamic Republic has also bought nearly two million tonnes in February from Russia, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Australia.

"It’s a sign that they really need wheat," said a trader from Louis Dreyfus.

Traders were unable to confirm which grain company sold the wheat to Iran, but suspected major grain companies such as Cargill, Bunge or Archer Daniels Midland. ADM and Bunge did not respond to inquiries seeking comment and Cargill said they do not comment on market rumours.

"Cargill, like a variety of other multinational companies with a global agricultural footprint, does sell agricultural commodities to Iran, as food is specifically excluded from the sanctions. We take great care to ensure that these sales respect both the spirit and the letter of the law," Cargill spokesman Mark Klein added.

Not since 2009

Iran last purchased U.S. wheat in 2009 but Thursday’s sale would be the largest U.S. wheat sale to the country since August 2008, a year when severe drought halved the country’s domestic crop and triggered record imports, according to USDA data.

U.S. food exports, including grain, to Iran are approved under a humanitarian authorization by the Treasury Department to ensure needed items reach the Iranian people. No further department approval is needed for food, a Treasury official said.

The hard red winter wheat was sold for delivery by May 31, USDA said. That variety of wheat from the U.S. Gulf Coast costs more than $300 per tonne, before freight costs to the Middle East add another $75 per tonne, according to Reuters and industry data (all figures US$).

The wheat is worth at least $46 million and probably much more due to the risk premiums companies normally charge Iran.

News of the sale helped limit declines in U.S. wheat futures traded at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), which were down about 0.5 per cent shortly before the market close.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions targeting Iran’s oil trade and central bank payments to put pressure on Tehran to end its nuclear program. Iran maintains the program is for peaceful purposes.

The sanctions are squeezing Iran’s oil exports even before they go into effect in June, a U.S. advisory body said in a report released Wednesday.

By law, exporters must report promptly to USDA the sale of 100,000 tonnes or more of a commodity to the same destination in one day. Sales of smaller amounts are reported on a weekly basis.

The post Iran buys U.S. wheat despite nuclear tensions appeared first on Farmtario.