All posts tagged: Archer-Daniels-Midland Co

Grocery shock on the horizon for U.S. elections as Iran war drags on

Grocery shock on the horizon for U.S. elections as Iran war drags on

Published by Sam Flores

A customer shops in a grocery store on March 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Rising grocery prices in the U.S. as the result of the Iran war could be among the most politically damaging outcomes of the conflict just months before a critical U.S. election.  Two years earlier, President Donald Trump won reelection after hammering the high costs of eggs, bacon and other grocery store staples. Now he and the Republican Party may be faced with even higher food prices as they try to retain control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections. Democrats are looking to capitalize on the spike by pinning it on Trump’s decision to go to war, while Republicans are choosing their words to downplay economic forecasts of higher prices for the fuel and fertilizer needed to produce and ship the food voters eat. “Our messaging is affordability and accountability,” Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in an interview. “It’s a pretty tailored message, pretty narrowly focused, and …

Iran-induced fertilizer shortage threatens Republicans in farm states

Iran-induced fertilizer shortage threatens Republicans in farm states

Published by Sam Flores

Garrett Mauch spreads manure as fertilizer on fields at his family’s farm in Lamar, Colorado, on January 21, 2026. RJ Sangosti | The Denver Post Via Getty Images | Denver Post | Getty Images The Strait of Hormuz shutdown caused by the war in Iran is jacking up fertilizer prices, hitting farmers in their pocketbooks and threatening to raise food prices. Now, Democrats trying to win the U.S. midterm elections in November see another new opportunity to pound the affordability crisis and turn the tide after years of losses in the states that produce crops and livestock. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical channel for fertilizer, including about 50 percent of global nitrogen-rich urea fertilizers, according to the Fertilizer Institute, the industry’s trade association. The Strait has been effectively impassable since President Donald Trump launched the assault, which is now dragging into its third week with no end in sight. The closure has spiked fertilizer prices just before planting season, potentially scrambling decision-making for farmers across the U.S. And it comes on top of …

Russian ambassador to UK Andrey Kelin reflected stark global picture

Russian ambassador to UK Andrey Kelin reflected stark global picture

Published by Sam Flores

“A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” That was how Winston Churchill famously described Russia (the Soviet Union as it then was), back in 1939. To this day, I can’t think of a better way to describe the complications when trying to decipher Russia, its leadership and its motives. A conundrum reinforced to me yet again this past week during my first conversation with a senior Russian official since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Before Russia’s Crimean invasion and annexation in 2014, I had been a fairly frequent visitor to Russia and had witnessed its post-Soviet integration into the global system. From G8 meetings in St Petersburg, to G20s in Moscow; from multiple St Petersburg Economic Forum attendances, to sitting in the palatial Kremlin with oil industry chiefs and the powerful Igor Sechin as my host; I had seen how Russia appeared to be on a Western economic trajectory. And yet all that eroded swiftly after the Crimean invasion, which I witnessed firsthand from Kyiv, where I was reporting from in …

U.S., China discuss farm goods, managed trade in Paris talks: Reuters

U.S., China discuss farm goods, managed trade in Paris talks: Reuters

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gives a statement during the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, at the USA House venue, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2026. Denis Balibouse | Reuters Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials held “remarkably stable” talks in Paris on Sunday that touched on potential areas of agreement in agriculture, critical minerals and managed trade for U.S. President Donald ⁠Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider in Beijing, two sources familiar with the talks said. The sources told Reuters that ​the “candid and constructive” Paris talks ​led by U.S. Treasury Secretary ​Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng would set in motion possible “deliverables” for Trump’s trip to China to meet with Xi at the end of March. But they added that the leaders would have the ⁠final say ‌on the proposals. The Chinese side showed openness to potential ⁠additional purchases of U.S. agricultural goods including poultry, beef and non-soybean row crops, one of the sources said, adding that China was still committed to buy 25 million metric …

How Iran and Venezuela strikes transform the Trump-Xi trade talks

How Iran and Venezuela strikes transform the Trump-Xi trade talks

Published by Sam Flores

TOPSHOT – US President Donald Trump (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, located next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan on October 30, 2025. Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will seek a truce in their bruising trade war on October 30, with the US president predicting a “great meeting” but Beijing being more circumspect. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty Images China’s opposition to the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran is stoking tensions between Beijing and Washington just weeks before a high-stakes meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The Middle East offensive, which has killed China-friendly Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a slew of other Iranian officials, shows the U.S. doubling down hard on its willingness to eschew diplomacy and launch high-risk military operations in pursuit of its global goals. The war began less than two months after the U.S. attacked Venezuela to capture the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, …

Congress contemplates its role on tariffs after Supreme Court decision

Congress contemplates its role on tariffs after Supreme Court decision

Published by Sam Flores

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) gives a thumbs up as he arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura | Getty Images President Donald Trump says he does not need Congress to impose tariffs, but his recent attempts to impose new import duties could trigger difficult votes for Republicans ahead of midterms. And Democrats are vowing to disrupt attempts to extend Trump’s trade policy. Shortly after the Supreme Court spiked a majority of Trump’s tariffs on Friday, the president doubled-down and issued another round using Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. That statute caps rates at 15% and requires congressional authorization for an extension beyond 150 days, creating the potential for a difficult vote on an unpopular issue for congressional Republicans in the midst of election season. “I’m freaked out about it. Because every poll shows that American voters are against tariffs at a 2-to-1 ratio. The president has latched on to a very unpopular policy,” said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., one of …