Stocks rose sharply on Wall Street Tuesday as traders cheered news that the leaders of the U.S. and China will meet face-to-face next week to discuss their long-running trade dispute. President Trump said he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit of nations in Japan. Investors are hoping for any positive sign in the trade war between the world’s largest economies. (The Pantagraph)

About 320 officials from U.S. manufacturers, retailers and other companies and trade groups are set to appear over seven days of hearings that started Monday at the U.S. International Trade Commission before panels of officials from the Office of U.S. Trade Representative and other agencies. While some companies support the duties, most are arguing that Trump shouldn’t tax their products. The U.S. companies are lining up for the hearing to drive home a now-common point: Trump’s proposed tariffs are bad for business. (Bloomberg)

The first two weeks in June brought some drier weather. Don’t get used to it. “We had a little bit of a respite there, which was good… but we’re heading right back into that wet pattern again,” said Chris Miller, National Weather Service. Why have these active weather patterns been occupying the Midwest for an extended period this year? Miller said it’s a cycle — wet weather brings more wet weather. “We’re pretty much stuck in this pattern that when a front comes through, it can’t clear the area. It just stops, returns to the north front, and it just

The European Union has agreed to assure the U.S. gets majority of its annual beef quota after months of negotiations and more than 20 years of friction over the subject of non-hormone beef trade. The EU has pledged to phase in over seven years a new quota protocol that will give U.S. exporters 35,000 metric tons of Europe’s 45,000-ton tariff rate quota for beef from animals that were never treated with growth hormones. It’s unclear how long it will take for the deal to be implemented. The European Commission said Friday that it may take months for it to be

Several commissions in Mexico’s Senate on Friday approved a draft law that would ratify the trade deal with the United States and Canada meant to replace the North America Free Trade Agreement, the Senate said in a statement. The law to create the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, is slated to be voted on in the full Senate on Tuesday. In the United States, President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing Congress to speed up a vote on the agreement, but the Democratic-led House of Representatives has sought more time to review the deal. (Reuters)

Illinois farmers proved again last week that given a chance to get in the fields, they can accomplish a lot in a short time. USDA’s weekly Crop Progress report released Monday shows farmers planted nearly 30 percent of both the corn and soybean crops last week. Illinois planting progress jumped to 73 percent complete for corn and 49 percent finished for beans, both significant improvements over the previous week. USDA will update its production and acreage estimates Tuesday. (FarmWeekNow)