Updates for government notices, Things to do, Artists, General things

Secretary Perdue Statement on USMCA Agreement

(Washington, D.C., December 10, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement after United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced agreement on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):

“USMCA is a big win for American workers and the economy, especially for our farmers and ranchers. The agreement improves virtually every component of the old NAFTA, and the agriculture industry stands to gain significantly,” said Secretary Perdue. “President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer are laying the foundation for a stronger farm economy through USMCA and I thank them for all their hard work and perseverance to get the agreement across the finish line. While I am very encouraged by today’s breakthrough, we must not lose sight – the House and Senate need to work diligently to pass USMCA by Christmas.”

Background:

USMCA will advance United States agricultural interests in two of the most important markets for American farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses. This high-standard agreement builds upon our existing markets to expand United States food and agricultural exports and support food processing and rural jobs.

Canada and Mexico are our first and second largest export markets for United States food and agricultural products, totaling more than $39.7 billion food and agricultural exports in 2018. These exports support more than 325,000 American jobs.

All food and agricultural products that have zero tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will remain at zero tariffs. Since the original NAFTA did not eliminate all tariffs on agricultural trade between the United States and Canada, the USMCA will create new market access opportunities for United States exports to Canada of dairy, poultry, and eggs, and in exchange the United States will provide new access to Canada for some dairy, peanut, and a limited amount of sugar and sugar-containing products.

Earlier this year, nearly 1,000 American food and agriculture associations and companies announced their support for USMCA and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture signed a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to ratify USMCA.

In September, all former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture since President Reagan’s Administration announced support for USMCA. In a letter to Congressional leaders, former Secretaries John Block (Reagan), Mike Espy (Clinton), Dan Glickman (Clinton), Ann Veneman (W. Bush), Mike Johanns (W. Bush), Ed Shafer (W. Bush), and Tom Vilsack (Obama) underscored the importance of passing USMCA saying, “We need a strong and reliable trade deal with our top two customers for U.S. agriculture products. USMCA will provide certainty in the North American market for the U.S. farm sector and rural economy. We strongly support ratification of USMCA.”

Key Provision: Increasing Dairy Market Access

• America’s dairy farmers will have expanded market opportunities in Canada for a wide variety of dairy products. Canada agreed to eliminate the unfair Class 6 and 7 milk pricing programs that allowed their farmers to undersell U.S. producers.

Key Provision: Biotechnology

• For the first time, the agreement specifically addresses agricultural biotechnology – including new technologies such as gene editing – to support innovation and reduce trade-distorting policies.

Key Provision: Geographical Indications

• The agreement institutes a more rigorous process for establishing geographical indicators and lays out additional factors to be considered in determining whether a term is a common name.

Key Provision: Sanitary/Phytosanitary Measures

• The three countries agree to strengthen disciplines for science-based measures that protect human, animal, and plant health while improving the flow of trade.

Key Provision: Poultry and Eggs

• U.S. poultry producers will have expanded access to Canada for chicken, turkey, and eggs.

Key Provision: Wheat

• Canada agrees to terminate its discriminatory wheat grading system, enabling U.S. growers to be more competitive.

Key Provision: Wine and Spirits

• The three countries agree to avoid technical barriers to trade through non-discrimination and transparency regarding sale, distribution, labeling, and certification of wine and distilled spirits.

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Introducing the cast of "Mauritius" by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Jared Larkin! Featuring Pinnacle veterans and newcomers alike, this play takes a deep dive into the thrills and fast-paced drama of philately—the study and collecting of postage stamps.

Follow along on our Facebook page as we feature members of the cast and production team over the coming weeks!

In this gripping tale, a seemingly simple sale of the coveted Mauritius postage stamp becomes dangerous when high-stakes collectors are willing to do anything to claim the rare find as their own.

"One wouldn't think that the subject of rare stamps would make for gripping, entertaining theater, but Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius...proves otherwise"

-The Hollywood Reporter

WHEN: January 2-4, 10-11, and 17-18 at 7:30 PM

with a 2:00 PM matinee on January 18

WHERE: Dumke Black Box Theatre at the Jewett Center

for the Performing Arts, Westminster College

Purchase Tickets

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Hi Dawn,
 

With New Year’s Eve around the corner and the majority of Americans spending up to $200 each on the occasion per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Best Places for New Year’s Eve Celebrations (as well as accompanying videos) to go along with its 50+ New Year’s Eve Facts – Traditions, Spending & More infographic.

To help Americans ring in the new year without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared the 100 biggest cities across 28 key metrics. The data set ranges from legality of fireworks to average price of a New Year’s Eve party ticket to forecasted precipitation for Dec. 31.
 

Best Cities for New Year’s Eve

1. New York, NY

11. Chicago, IL

2. Denver, CO

12. Washington, DC

3. Las Vegas, NV

13. San Antonio, TX

4. San Diego, CA

14. New Orleans, LA

5. Los Angeles, CA

15. Dallas, TX

6. Atlanta, GA

16. Buffalo, NY

7. Orlando, FL

17. Seattle, WA

8. San Francisco, CA

18. Birmingham, AL

9. Miami, FL

19. Minneapolis, MN

10. Philadelphia, PA

20. Louisville, KY

 
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-places-for-new-years-eve/17263/

50+ New Year’s Facts – Traditions, Spending & More

• $1.1 Billion - Estimated cost of New Year's air travel, with at least 6.7 million people expected to pay an average of $165 for a round-trip ticket.
   
• 8 in 10 - Share of Americans who spend less than $200 on New Year's Eve.
   
• $758 - Difference in the cost for a couple to enjoy dinner and a show on New Year's Eve in the most expensive (New York) and least expensive (Philadelphia) cities.
   
• 360+ Million – Number of glasses of sparkling wine drunk each New Year's Eve.

To view the full infographic, please visit: https://wallethub.com/blog/new-year-facts/29706/

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Dear Dave,

I’ve never heard you talk about store layaway programs. With Christmas coming, I wanted to ask your opinion of using layaway for buying gifts.

Meg

Dear Meg,

If you know me, you probably have a good idea what’s coming next. I’m not a huge fan of layaway programs, because they’re not the answer to a problem. I mean, Christmas comes at the same time every year. It’s not like it snuck up on you. What’s wrong with just saving up money for Christmas ahead of time?

Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you don’t have the money on hand, you can’t afford it. Now, sometimes there are instances when certain popular items are on sale, and you can take advantage of them through layaway if you don’t have enough cash at that very moment. I don’t have a huge problem with this sort of thing, as long as it’s not habitual behavior, and you’re already saving money and living on a budget. Still, I would never, ever recommend using a layaway plan with fees attached.

It may be too late to budget for this Christmas, but I want you to make plans to start living on a written, monthly budget in January. Make it a resolution! Give every dollar a name, on paper, before the upcoming month begins. You can include Christmas spending in those monthly budgets, too. If you set aside a little bit each month from January until next December, you won’t have to worry about layaways or Christmas debt.

Remember, Christmas is about God and it’s about love. There are many, many ways to bless people and make them happy without overextending yourself financially!

—Dave

* Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 16 million listeners each week on 600 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at daveramsey.com and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey.