The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing a new rule to narrow what products qualify for a "Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label. Now only meat, poultry and egg products from animals "born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States" will make the grade.
Right now, companies can put that label on meat from animals that were raised in a foreign country but slaughtered in the U.S., or meat that was butchered in a different country but repackaged here.
The agency said the change delivers on President Joe Biden's executive order to promote American products and producers, and another order from the administration calling for government action to increase competition in the meat and poultry supply chain.
“American consumers expect that when they buy a meat product at the grocery store, the claims they see on the label mean what they say,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press release. “These proposed changes are intended to provide consumers with accurate information to make informed purchasing decisions."
However, the label will continue to be voluntary, and producers still won't need approval by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Companies just need to keep supporting documentation on file for an inspector to verify at their discretion.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
