On Friday, an omnibus budget bill that will fund the U.S. government through September 2016 cleared both the House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. The bill also includes a provision repealing country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for U.S. beef and pork, which will likely allow the U.S. to avoid the imposition of retaliatory duties by Canada and Mexico. Earlier this month, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body approved retaliation in the annual amounts of about $750 million for Canada and $228 million for Mexico.

The bill includes full funding for the USDA Market Access Program ($200 million) and Foreign Market Development program ($34.5 million) as authorized by the farm bill. These programs are subject to annual sequestration.