HR6496-119

What This Bill Does

The Specialty Crop and Wine Producer Tariff Relief Act responds to foreign tariffs imposed on United States agricultural products on or after January 20, 2025. Within 180 days after enactment, USDA must establish a program to make direct payments to specialty crop growers and wine producers for covered losses. The program must be administered substantially like the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops program under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act. USDA may also purchase surplus crops other than wine grapes for distribution through nutrition assistance programs such as school breakfast, school lunch, SNAP, and other programs the Secretary selects. Covered losses include higher costs from perishability, specialized temperature or humidity-controlled handling and transport, protective packaging, faster movement to market, higher labor costs, reduced exports from tariff burdens, lost export revenue from lower foreign demand, reduced market access, reduced foreign-buyer contracts, and cancelled or reduced contracts. For wine producers and specialty crop growers producing wine grapes, covered losses include lost qualifying export revenue for wine based on the share made with United States-grown grapes. USDA must report to Congress, beginning within 120 days after first using the payment or purchase authority and annually through 2030, organized by crop and region. The bill authorizes sums as necessary for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 and limits administrative costs to 1 percent of available funds.

Who Benefits and How

Specialty crop growers benefit because direct payments can offset tariff-driven export losses and higher perishability-related costs. Wine producers benefit because the bill covers lost qualifying export revenue for wine tied to United States-grown grapes. Nutrition assistance programs benefit because USDA may buy surplus crops and distribute them to school meals, SNAP, and similar programs. Agricultural regions exposed to foreign tariffs benefit from crop-and-region reporting that shows where aid is going. USDA farm program offices benefit from using an existing Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops style framework rather than designing every payment rule from scratch.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA farm program administrators must create the program within 180 days, calculate covered losses, distribute payments, manage surplus purchases, limit administrative spending to 1 percent, and file annual reports through 2030. Federal taxpayers fund the sums-as-necessary authorization. Specialty crop growers and wine producers must document tariff-related costs, export revenue losses, market-access losses, cancelled contracts, or qualifying wine export revenue. Congress must review crop-and-region reporting to monitor whether relief is targeted.

Key Provisions

• Requires USDA to establish direct tariff-relief payments within 180 days for specialty crop growers and wine producers.
• Authorizes USDA to purchase surplus crops other than wine grapes for nutrition assistance programs.
• Defines covered losses to include perishability costs, specialized transport, packaging, labor, lost export revenue, reduced market access, and cancelled foreign-buyer contracts.
• Provides wine-specific coverage for lost qualifying export revenue tied to United States-grown grapes.
• Requires annual reports to Congress by crop and region through 2030.
• Authorizes sums as necessary for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 and caps administrative costs at 1 percent.