“I have been quiet recently in terms of public remarks about competition, but for those [ag input] industries … that have not played ball, that should not give them comfort,” Vaden said. Vaden has been a harsh critic of high input prices, especially for fertilizer, and applauded President Donald Trump's recent decision to suspend countervailing duties on Moroccan phosphate. After the speech, Vaden said civil and criminal investigations are underway but that he did not want to “get ahead” of the DOJ and FTC, which have “different standards of evidence.” The time for talking is coming to an end, and the time for action is coming.” He noted that the tariff rates for Tier 2 tariffs have not changed since 2000, vastly reducing their ability to limit imports of sugar above the tariff rate quotas.