CNN
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President Joe Biden on Wednesday blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for rising domestic prices and global food shortages, praising US farmers for being the “breadbasket of democracy” amid the war.
“America is fighting on two fronts,” Biden said during a speech at a barn in Kankakee, Illinois. “With us, it’s inflation and rising prices. Abroad, it helps Ukrainians defend our democracy and feed those who are hungry around the world because Russian atrocities exist. … And American farmers understand that Putin’s war has cut off critical sources of food.
The president, citing the millions of tons of Ukrainian crops that are not being exported because of the invasion, told the group of farmers and local officials in the room: “If those tons don’t make it to the market , huge number of people in Africa will starve to death because it is the sole supplier to a number of African countries.
He said the United States must continue to invest in American farmers because they are the “backbone” of the economy and serve as the “breadbasket of democracy.”
Biden also announced actions to bolster domestic food production and reduce U.S. food costs, as part of a broader effort to increase U.S. food supplies available for export to regions of the world facing shortages following the war.
Specifically, the administration is making new efforts to double funding for domestic fertilizer production, expand insurance eligibility for “double cropping” – the practice of harvesting two crops from the same field the same year – and provide additional technical assistance for precision farming and other nutrient management tools to reduce farm reliance on fertilizers.
Biden’s remarks followed a tour of a dual-crop wheat and soybean farm. The president, in his speech, talked about the risks of dual culture, but said it was one that “we have to take.”
The new actions come amid warnings of a global shortage of food supplies following the war in Ukraine.
The prices of the main agricultural products produced in the region, in particular wheat, have soared.
Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly 30% of world wheat trade. And fertilizers, essential for farmers to meet their crop production targets, have also risen in cost, as production in Europe has also fallen thanks to soaring prices for natural gas – a key ingredient in fertilizers made from carbon dioxide. nitrogen like urea.
Russia’s invasion has contributed to a historic shock in commodity markets that will keep global prices high until the end of 2024, according to a World Bank report.
Food prices will climb 22.9% this year, highlighted by a 40% rise in wheat prices, according to the report released late last month.
Biden assured in his remarks that his administration “can ensure that U.S. agricultural exports will fill the Ukrainian supply gap.”
And as he left the farm in Illinois, Biden told CNN inflation is “going down,” after the latest Consumer Price Index data showed US inflation had risen at a faster pace. slower than the previous month.
“They’re going down,” Biden said. “I have a lot more to go down.”
The president did not respond if he thought inflation had peaked, but his adviser offered a more lukewarm response on Wednesday morning when the latest figures were released.
“Certainly when you look at the main headline number you see this slowdown. So it’s better than bad news. But I’m a bit hesitant to call it good news because we don’t know, of course, where it’s going to be okay in the next few months,” Biden economic adviser Heather Boushey told CNN.
Later Wednesday, while speaking to unionized workers in Chicago about inflation, Biden said Republicans want to solve inflation by cutting Americans’ incomes. And he took a shot at former President Donald Trump, calling him the “great MAGA King.”
“Under my predecessor, Great King MAGA, the deficit grew every year he was president,” Biden said, also saying the GOP doesn’t “want to solve inflation by lowering costs, they want to solve it by raising taxes and lowering your income.”
Biden also called Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s 11-point plan designed to “save America” the “MAGA plan.” The president criticized plans to eventually raise taxes on the middle class and potentially cut Social Security and Medicare every five years, requiring frequent votes to renew the programs.
