agricultural trade
The ‘new NAFTA’ inspires anxiety on both sides of the border
At a House Agriculture Committee hearing on “opportunities for agriculture” through the renegotiation of NAFTA, an array of farm and trade groups testified that customers, especially in Mexico, are hedging their bets about access to U.S. farm exports and looking for alternative suppliers.
Alabama has case of mad cow disease
An 11-year-old cow, intercepted at a livestock market in Alabama, is the fifth U.S. case of mad cow disease, the brain-wasting fatal disease found generally in older cattle, said the USDA. "This finding ... should not lead to any trade issues," said USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, because it was the "atypical" type that seems to occur spontaneously.
White House says it will knock down NAFTA barriers
The White House cleared the way to begin renegotiation of NAFTA as early as Aug. 16 by listing its goals for the talks; in short, "The new NAFTA must continue to break down barriers to American exports." The administration scored Canada for blocking access to its dairy, wine and grain markets, "barriers that the current agreement is unequipped to handle."
For second time in a month, China approves U.S. GMO crop for import
China, the top customer for U.S. farm exports, is delivering on a promise to speed up review of import applications, part of the two nations' 100-day timetable for resolving trade issues. Its Agriculture Ministry approved import of an insect-resistant GMO corn strain by Syngenta and a glyphosate-tolerant GMO corn variety by Monsanto, the second time in a month that U.S. biotech strains have been cleared for import, said Reuters.
Soybean leader Censky is Trump nominee for deputy ag secretary
President Trump selected Steve Censky of the American Soybean Association to be deputy agriculture secretary, announced the White House in a decision applauded by farm groups. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has put agricultural trade at the top of his agenda, and Censky would reflect that priority.
Wanted for USDA trade chief: A battler
Farm groups persuaded Congress to create a high-level USDA post to promote U.S, agricultural exports. Lawmakers, in putting up money for the office, want a fearless advocate on the job. "Be cognizant and steadfast in raising trade enforcement issues related to the agricultural practices of foreign nations," says the House Appropriations Committee in a report that accompanies the USDA-FDA funding bill for fiscal 2018.
Farm groups worry that U.S. trade actions on steel will boomerang
The United States is the world's largest ag exporter, with sales generating 20 cents of each $1 in farm income, so farm groups fear they will be casualties of a trade war if the Trump administration restricts imports of steel and aluminum. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, 18 food and agricultural organizations said any nation could claim national security as the reason to keep out U.S. food exports.
Trump meets with his ‘friend,’ Mexican President Nieto, for the first time
While in Hamburg, Germany, for the G20 summit, President Trump met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, for the first time since the start of the American leader’s term. Nieto’s foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, predicted that NAFTA talks with begin August 16.
Japan edges Mexico for No. 1 spot as U.S corn buyer
With the Trump administration pursuing a re-negotiation of NAFTA, Mexico is scaling back its purchases of U.S. corn, which has allowed Japan to become the top market for U.S. corn exports, said Bloomberg. Mexico has looked into corn imports from South America after President Trump made Mexico his chief NAFTA target and drove down the value of the peso.
Is a slowdown in U.S. soy, corn and poultry sales to Mexico a signal of the future?
"Faltering trust between trading partners on both sides of the border" may be slowing U.S. farm export to Mexico as the nations prepare to renegotiate NAFTA , says Farm Futures. It says that U.S. exports of corn, soybeans and chicken meat to Mexico declined during the first four months of this year, a period when the new Trump administration floated the idea of a border tax and when U.S.-Mexico relations soured.
At marathon NAFTA hearings, ag sector speaks in many voices
Farm groups were among the first to testify at three days of hearings called by the Trump administration as it decides how to modify the North American Free Trade Agreement. Agriculture has been an overall winner under NAFTA.
NAFTA is mutually beneficial, say ag ministers, but needs to be ‘modernized’
President Trump calls NAFTA a bad deal for the United States and insists it needs a major overhaul. But today the agriculture ministers of Canada, Mexico, and the United States said that while the agreement should get an update, it has been beneficial for North America’s farmers and ranchers.
Trump selects Doud to be chief U.S. agricultural negotiator
Gregg Doud, the head of the Commodity Markets Council for the past four years, is President Trump’s choice to become chief agricultural negotiator in the U.S. trade representative’s office, announced the White House.
Lighthizer warning: Buy GMOs or expect a fight
The Trump administration will attack overseas regulations that restrict the export of GMO crops and other products resulting from American technological innovation, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the first meeting of a newly created task force on rural America.
Trump tabs Stump for CFTC, Gerrish as USTR
President Trump will nominate Dawn Stump, a former vice president of NYSE Euronext, as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He has also selected Jeffrey Gerrish to be a deputy U.S. trade representative.
When orange juice isn’t for breakfast anymore, Brazilian growers get the squeeze
Brazil is the Goliath of orange juice, producing half of the juice in the world, says Quartz, so a worldwide slowdown in consumption is a big problem. Orange production is down sharply to 242 million boxes last year, compared to 400 million in 2014.
U.S. and Mexico agree on sugar-trade rules
There are still details to work out but the commerce ministers of Mexico and the United States announced an agreement in principal on sweetener trade after negotiations stretched a day past the U.S. deadline for a deal. The tentative agreement takes off the table a long-running dispute as the Trump administration prepares its proposals for revising the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Farmers strongly favor renegotiation of NAFTA
Reduced interest overseas in U.S. soybeans
The new soybean marketing year opens on Saturday, and early orders for the U.S. crop are the smallest in years, says a research brief from rural lender CoBank. Global demand is down in the face of the strong dollar, slow economic growth, and uncertainties about U.S. trade policy in an election year.