WASHINGTON – Donald Trump said he would slap a 200% tariff on John Deere’s imports into the United States if the company moved production to Mexico as planned, comments that hit the agricultural equipment manufacturer’s share price. Earlier this year, John Deere announced that it was laying off hundreds of employees in the Midwest and increasing its production capacity in Mexico, a decision that upset workers and some political leaders. …The Republican presidential candidate has frequently said he would slap automakers that move their production to Mexico with a 200% tariff, but this appears to be the first time he has extended that threat to an agricultural equipment company. …The strategy is designed to protect American jobs from foreign competition, but economists warn his measures will boost inflation.
In related coverage: Donald Trump’s John Deere Threat Has a Problem: the USMCA Act
Due diligence requirements under the Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) will apply starting on December 30, 2024, setting in motion a landmark regulation to prevent products linked to deforestation and forest degradation from being placed on the EU market. …As described in further detail below, the EUDR will impact US companies that export covered commodities to the EU – either directly or indirectly through an EU supplier. …The EUDR gives companies 18 months from the date of its adoption to prepare for and implement the new rules, with large businesses – those with more than 250 employees – expected to be in compliance as of December 30, 2024 (smaller and micro enterprises have additional time to comply). In the meantime, the EU Commission is developing guidelines to clarify the EUDR’s requirements and published a nonbinding FAQ document to assist the regulated community in preparing for compliance. The final guidelines are expected to be adopted before the December 30, 2024 compliance date.
Members of the House on both sides are joining forces to urge President Joe Biden to appeal the European Union’s globally criticized deforestation regulations, which they claim will hurt the entire forestry supply chain in the United States. In a letter led by Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), signed by 73 Republican and Democratic members, the legislators called on Biden to request a two-year delay of the EU Deforestation-free Regulation, which companies will be required to comply with by the end of December. The lawmakers said the regulations are “well intentioned” but that many U.S. producers still lack “critical clarity” from the EU ahead of the deadline. “Without more time for implementation, billions of dollars of trade are at stake,” lawmakers wrote in the letter. “Without legal certainty that U.S. producers can place products on the EU market according to EUDR compliance requirements, significant trade disruptions will result.” 
LONDON — British power generator Drax could invest up to $12.5 billion developing biomass plants with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in the US over the next decade. Drax, which generates around 6% of Britain’s electricity, said it is still committed to the UK but sees opportunities in the US for its technology. Its 
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Four Research and Development scientists were honored Sept. 23 with a Deputy Chief Award, all cited for their excellence in the science, innovation and service that plays an integral role in driving the Forest Service forward as a science-based agency. …Collectively, the honorees contributed directly to work addressing issues like climate change, wildfire risk and the need to protect biodiversity. Their work is critical not only to the health and resilience of our forests and grasslands but also to the well-being of the communities that depend on these ecosystems. About the honorees:
The world’s top container carrier is urging customers to move US cargo through East and Gulf Coast ports before the planned start on Tuesday of a dockworker strike. MSC Mediterranean Shipping said the talks “may not be resolved” by the Sept. 30 deadline, resulting in closures at terminals starting Oct. 1. That would delay the shipping of containers — both imports and exports — on trucks and railroads through ports from Boston to Houston. …The Geneva-based company said that it will continue to accept requests for dry cargo services while reserving the right to “not accept new refrigerated bookings.” Hapag-Lloyd cautioned that industrial action would will raise freight rates. …Oxford Economics estimated that a strike would cost the US economy $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion a week. …But the fallout of even a short strike would be costly for many retailers, manufacturers and other importers trying to ensure timely shipments.
SAVANNAH, Georgia — The chief executive over Georgia’s two booming seaports said Tuesday that a strike next week by dockworkers across the U.S. East and Gulf coasts appears likely, though he’s hopeful the resulting shutdown would last only a few days. …U.S. ports from Maine to Texas are preparing for a potential shutdown in a week, when the union representing 45,000 dockworkers in that region has threatened to strike starting Oct. 1. That’s when the contract expires between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports. Negotiations on a new contract halted in June. A strike would shut down 36 ports that handle roughly half the nations’ cargo from ships. …There hasn’t been a national longshoremen’s strike in the U.S. since 1977. …A prolonged strike would almost certainly hurt the U.S. economy.
It’s here-we-go-again time in Canada-US trade relations on softwood lumber. And the Canadian government this month has filed legal challenges to the decision by the Department of Commerce to increase the duty it charges on softwood lumber imports from Canada to 14.54% from 8.05%. …The decision has coincided with depressed market conditions… which have fueled mill curtailments and permanent closures across Canada as well as the United States. Adding to the negative landscape has been the impact of the most destructive wildfires in Canadian forest history in 2023. …Canada is the top global exporter of softwood lumber – valued at C$13.7 billion in 2022, with the US market alone accounting for about two-thirds of this total. …Although some analysts see the fundamentals underlying softwood lumber’s end-use markets remaining strong, the trends of shipments in the past few years have reflected an industry under severe stress. 
The US economy grew at a 3% annualized pace in the second quarter, a faster rate than Wall Street had expected. The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate of second quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) was unchanged from the second estimate which had shown 3% annualized growth. Economists had estimated the reading to show annualized growth of 2.9%. The third estimate for second quarter GDP confirms that economic growth was higher than the 1.4% annualized growth seen in the first quarter. “The revisions only strengthen our conviction that the US economy will continue to expand at a decent pace over the coming year, which suggests labor market conditions are unlikely to deteriorate markedly from here,” said Oxford Economics deputy chief economist Michael Pearce. Separately, data from the US Labor Department released Thursday showed 218,000 unemployment claims were filed in the week ending Sept. 21, below Wall Street’s expectations for 223,000.
Home prices remain elevated but price growth continues to decelerate, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index (HPI). The HPI (seasonally adjusted) reached its 14th monthly consecutive record high in July 2024. The index increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.15%, down slightly from a revised June rate of 2.19%. This rate has slowed over the past six months, from a high of 6.53% in February 2024. The index has not seen an outright decrease since January of 2023 (nineteen months). Separately, the House Price Index released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA; SA) posted its sixth monthly consecutive record high, after having decreased slightly in January of this year. The FHFA HPI recorded a 1.57% increase in July, upward from a revised 0.03% rate in June.
The SLB published its 
MONTRÉAL — CDPQ, a global investment group [and the second-largest pension fund in Canada], and Chinook Forest Partners, a natural capital investment manager, announced the launch of a new investment platform that will deploy significant capital to build a diversified and high-quality portfolio of forestland in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. …Established in 2018, the Chinook team is made up of experienced forestland and natural capital investment professionals with comprehensive understanding of the natural capital and landscape investment space, as well as a vast network of landowners, forest products manufacturers, external partners, and natural capital investors across the United States. …Emmanuel Jaclot, Executive VP and Head of Infrastructure at CDPQ said “By investing in forestland, we are not only protecting valuable natural assets but also contributing to the transition towards a greener economy.”
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Attainable housing in rural communities, forestry jobs and uses for low-value wood are the focus of three awards totaling $3.5 million for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Community’s (Endowment) first-ever mission related investments. “Mission-related investments enable the Endowment to support the health and vitality of the nation’s working forests and forest-reliant communities while safeguarding our capital and generating positive financial returns,” explained Pete Madden, president and chief executive officer of the Endowment. “By allocating a small portion of our funds typically invested in traditional stocks and bonds, we are strategically investing in businesses and funds that directly benefit forestry and rural communities.” …In 2021, the Endowment’s Board of Directors approved a pilot program to explore expanding the organization’s impact through mission related investments. The Endowment engaged the consulting firm Gordian Knot Strategies to guide the process and in 2022, the Board approved funding for the inaugural mission-related investments.
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More than 1 million acres of federal land in central and southern Oregon could soon be leased for solar energy projects. Officials at the federal Bureau of Land Management announced Aug. 29 they had finalized a plan to add Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming to its existing Western Solar Plan — an Obama-era project that expanded permitting for solar projects on federal land. When it was first implemented in 2012, it only included Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The expansion includes 1.1 million acres of land in Oregon that officials deem to be of low risk for any adverse environmental effects from solar installations, and the plots also are within 15 miles of existing or planned transmission lines.
