CURRENT ISSUE ARTICLES

Overtime Final Rule Released

NCC Continues to Oppose Proposed California Rail Regulations

USTR Announces Katherine White as Chief Textiles and Apparel Negotiator

Registration Continues for Gin Schools

Sales, Shipments Steady

Capital Calendar

 

Overtime Final Rule Released

The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule changing overtime pay regulations.

Most significantly, the DOL’s final rule phases in a rise in the overtime eligibility ceiling over the next 14 months to eventually cover any employee earning less than $58,656 per year, from the current cap of $35,568. Employers may still be able to claim exemptions under the new final rule under certain conditions for employees deemed to be engaged in “executive, administrative, or professional” responsibilities.

The NCC has frequently opposed the DOL’s recent push for new overtime pay rulemaking. Last month, the NCC joined dozens of organizations on a letter at https://bit.ly/3PLaLpR arguing that any new overtime rule “will dramatically and negatively impact businesses, nonprofits, colleges and universities, states, cities, towns, and public schools, as well as the workers they employ and the consumers, students, and people they serve.”

The DOL’s final rule is likely to face significant legal challenges in the coming weeks.

NCC Continues to Oppose Proposed California Rail Regulations

The Rail Customer Coalition (RCC), of which the NCC is a member, called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in comments at www.cotton.org/issues/2024/upload/24rcclet.pdf to reject a request from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to impose new regulations on rail carriers.

Most significantly, the proposed CARB regulations would require the decommissioning of locomotives 23 years or older beginning in 2030, after which most new locomotives would be subject to zero-emission requirements. The proposed regulations would also require rail carriers to shut down while in transit under certain conditions to further limit emissions.

The RCC comments point out that the proposed CARB regulations are “technically and economically infeasible.” Additionally, the comments argue that California’s actions are inconsistent with Clean Air Act interpretation by failing to grant stakeholders appropriate lead time to adopt new standards.

The NCC also opposed the proposed CARB regulations by joining an April 5 letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan at https://bit.ly/3PWlD4b.

USTR Announces Katherine White as Chief Textiles and Apparel Negotiator

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today announced that Katherine White will serve as USTR’s Chief Textiles and Apparel Negotiator. Ms. White previously served as International Trade Policy Advisor on the House Committee on Ways and Means.

“Strengthening America’s textile industry is a key priority for USTR,” said United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to crafting trade policy that supports industry revitalization and resilience.”

USTR's Office of Textiles is responsible for international trade negotiations affecting textile and apparel products, at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels, with a particular emphasis on opening foreign markets to U.S. domestic producers.

Registration Continues for Gin Schools

U.S. certified ginners, gin managers and superintendents are urged to register for one of the two remaining 2024 Ginner Schools. Online registration is at www.cotton.org/ncga/ginschool/index.cfm.

The remaining school locations and dates are: Western Ginners School at the Southwest Ginning Research Laboratory Mesilla Park, NM, on May 7-9; and the Mid-South-Southeast Ginners School at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA on June 4-6. The Mid-South-Southeast school will return to the Stoneville, MS location in 2025.  

Course descriptions also can be found at www.cotton.org/ncga/ginschool/index.cfm. The schools will continue to offer the Levels I, II and III as well as the continuing education courses. The three schools' programming is coordinated by the National Cotton Ginners' Association (NCGA), working with USDA’s Greg Holt and the three USDA ginning laboratories.
 
Programming for Levels I, II and III will feature practical information on all aspects of ginning. Among topics to be covered are seed cotton drying/cleaning through the ginning process and gin waste disposal methods. The schools' overall emphasis will be on increasing ginning efficiency, turning out high quality fiber and a focus on improving safety. The Ginner Schools' Continuing Education Courses will include topics such as gin property insurance, fire detection and prevention, RFID technology, data collection, gin automation, precleaning for all conditions, bale packaging and contamination prevention, and classing and module averaging. 
 
School cooperators include USDA's Agricultural Research Service, NCGA and its member associations, the NCC, the Texas Cotton Ginners Trust, Cotton Incorporated, gin machinery/equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and select land grant universities.

Sales, Shipments Steady

Net export sales for the week ending April 18, 2024 were 195,200 bales (480-lb.). This brings total ‘23-24 sales to approximately 11.9 million. Total sales at the same point in the ‘22-23 marketing year were approximately 12.6 million bales. Total new crop (‘24-25) sales are 1.3 million bales (480-lb.). 

Shipments for the week were 280,000 bales, bringing total exports to date to 8.4 million bales, compared with the 8.2 million bales at the comparable point in the ‘22-23 marketing year.

Capital Calendar

The House and Senate were in recess.

Next Week

April 29

The House and Senate convene.

May 1

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration will hold a hearing to review the Biden administration’s FY25 budget request for USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation Mission Area. More information and a link to view the hearing are at https://bit.ly/3QlCfTc.