Government Affairs Insights on Floral

August 21, 2025

USDA Announces Large-Scale Reorganization Plan and Opens Public Comment Period

On July 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins released a memorandum announcing the Department’s plan to initiate a large-scale reorganization plan. USDA’s phased plan consists of relocating much of its Agency headquarters and National Capital Region (NCR) staff out of Washington, D.C. area to five hub locations. With the cost of living and federal salary locality rate (33.94%) being high within the NCR, USDA has selected hubs in areas where existing concentrations of USDA employees are already located and with lower costs of living. These five regions and their federal locality rates have been identified as Raleigh, North Carolina (22.24%); Kansas City, Missouri (18.97%); Indianapolis, Indiana (18.15%); Fort Collins, Colorado (30.52%); and Salt Lake City, Utah (17.06%). Through these changes, USDA hopes to ensure the size of USDA’s workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural priorities, bring USDA closer to its customers, eliminate management layers and bureaucracy, and consolidate redundant support functions. In reaction to the announcement, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing on July 30 to review the recently announced large-scale reorganization of the USDA featuring testimony from Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden. During the hearing, Republicans and Democrats both agreed on the importance of ensuring USDA reorganization does not disrupt essential services or negatively impact employees. Republicans focused on cost savings, efficiency, and bringing USDA operations closer to rural communities, emphasizing benefits such as lower cost of living and improved customer service. Democrats concentrated on the consultation process, potential impacts on research, workforce stability, and equitable service delivery, raising concerns about transparency and local input. Other topics discussed included facility impacts in specific states, union engagement, disaster funding, civil rights considerations, and the need for ongoing congressional oversight and stakeholder feedback during implementation. Following both the announcement and Senate hearing, USDA launched a 30-day public comment period for stakeholders to share feedback regarding the Department's reorganization plan. The comment period is open through August 26, 2025, and stakeholders interested in submitting comments can do so by emailing reorganization@usda.gov.

Senate Confirms Two More USDA Nominees Before the August Recess

On August 2, the full Senate voted to confirm Luke Lindberg to be the next U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. In this role, he will be responsible for advising Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and other USDA officials on trade issues. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer of South Dakota Trade, a public–private partnership focused on expanding international market access for South Dakota’s agricultural exporters. He also served as Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer at the U.S. Export-Import Bank during the first Trump Administration. Prior to his vote, the Senate also confirmed Tyler Clarkson as USDA General Counsel on July 31. Previously, he served as Deputy General Counsel to current Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden during his time as USDA under the first Trump Administration. As the newly instated General Counsel, Clarkson will likely play a large role in helping the Department carry out its reorganization plan to relocate Washington area USDA employees as well as assist the Agency in navigating the Administration’s efforts surrounding reciprocal tariffs. Clarkson and Lindberg now join Secretary Brooke Rollins and Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden as the only USDA nominees to clear the Senate confirmation process thus far. After the August recess, the Senate will resume session and look to continue confirming the remaining USDA nominees in the queue such as Under Secretary for Market and Regulatory Programs nominee Dudley Hoskins and Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics nominee Scott Hutchins.

President Trump Announces New Global Tariff Rates

On July 31, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order adjusting the country-specific reciprocal tariffs originally announced on April 2, which imposed new tariff rates on more than 67 countries. In the order, Annex I outlines all the newly adjusted reciprocal tariff rates and any countries not listed in Annex I are subject to a baseline 10% tariff, as before. These tariffs will take effect starting August 7, applying to goods arriving after that time or to goods already in transit that arrive after October 5. Countries’ reciprocal tariffs of note to the floral industry supply chain include Colombia (10%), Ecuador (15%), Guatemala (10%), Israel (15%), and Kenya (10%), and then countries within the European Union (EU) like the Netherlands are subject to a 15% tariff whether their Column 1 duty is initially less or more than 15%.

Additionally, President Trump has outlined several different caveats specific to tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. The White House announced that the U.S. will be increasing the tariff on Canadian goods from 25% to 35%, in response to Canada’s lack of engagement in negotiation efforts. Although, goods qualifying for preferential tariff treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) continue to remain not subject to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) Canada tariffs. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and President Trump reached an agreement to extend the reciprocal tariff deadline for another 90 days, in conjunction with Mexico still having to pay a 25% “fentanyl tariff’”, 25% on cars, and 50% on steel, aluminum, and copper. Further, President Trump said this extension allows for more time to have an improved longer term trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. With regards to Brazil, President Trump signed an Executive Order implementing an additional 40% on tariff on Brazil, bringing the total duty on imported goods from Brazil to 50%.

On August 11, Trump signed an Executive Order extending a tariff suspension agreement with China for another 90 days, allowing more time for broader negotiation. If no new announcements or agreements are made between trading partners, then the new deadline for initially high reciprocal tariffs set on and by China would take into effect November 10.

At this point in time, roughly 7 new trade agreements/frameworks have been announced by the White House since ‘Liberation Day’ in early April. Those countries who have provided tentative commitments and are in active negotiations with the U.S. include the United Kingdom (UK), Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, and the EU.

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