agricultural trade
In Farm Belt, objections mount to ‘endless tariff war’
The greatest ag risk, say some bankers, is an adverse trade outcome
Farm income weakened in much of the Midwest and Plains during the opening months of this year, said reports from regional Federal Reserve banks on Thursday, with ag bankers telling the St. Louis Fed that an adverse trade outcome is clearly the most significant threat to agriculture in 2019. On Friday, the Trump administration increased the tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
With eye on China, Canadians will plant more wheat, less canola
Canadian farmers plan to slash canola plantings by 7 percent this year because of a trade clash with China and to greatly expand their sowings of spring wheat, said Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
Two more rounds of Sino-U.S. trade talks planned
U.S.-China negotiations to resolve the trade war are “moving along quite well,” said President Trump on Wednesday. Meanwhile, published reports said two rounds of talks were scheduled for late April and early May.
U.S. farm products likely targets as Canada refreshes tariff list
Canada could soon propose retaliatory tariffs on "a significant number of agricultural products," including U.S. wine, pork, apples and ethanol, as part of its campaign for removal of American tariffs on steel and aluminum, said ambassador David MacNaughton on Monday. The food and ag products would be part of a "refreshed" list of tariffs that originally took effect last July 1.
Trump, dropping Mexico threat, says ‘very close’ to China deal
U.S. and Chinese negotiators may be within four weeks of resolving the Sino-U.S. trade war, said President Trump on Thursday. Trump said the nations are working on a comprehensive agreement. “And whether it’s our farmers or our technology people, all of them will be really happy.”
Ag ‘risks losing much of the trade gains achieved over the past three decades’
The U.S. food and agriculture sector would lose nearly $22 billion in exports, equal to 15 percent of this year's sales forecast, if the United States scrapped NAFTA without a replacement on top of withdrawing from TPP, said three Purdue economists in a report on Monday. "Under this more pessimistic outcome, the negative trade impacts would be reflected in lower incomes for U.S. farmers, reduced land returns and labor displacement."
Biotech backer Perdue blasts fear-your-food ‘hysteria’
An amorphous “fear-your-food” movement, fed in large part by the ceaseless churning of the internet, could sideline, deter, or even derail the use of such crucial agricultural tools as pesticides and genetically engineered crops and livestock, warned Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday.
U.S. ag trade surplus narrows
The U.S. agricultural trade surplus will shrink to $13.5 billion this fiscal year, the smallest in at least six years, as exports stagnate at $141.5 billion and imports tick upward to $128 billion, said the USDA in a quarterly forecast.
Ag chairmen see low prices and trade war pressuring farm income
Persistently low commodity prices are pushing some farmers to the financial edge, said the chairmen of the Senate and House Agriculture committees on Thursday. "We are in a very tough spot," said Senate Ag chairman Pat Roberts. The House Ag chairman, Collin Peterson, said "we are not in crisis yet" but said that continued sour conditions would sap the finances of a growing number of farmers.
China boosts its soybean purchases to 3.8 million tonnes this week
For the third day in a row, the USDA confirmed a large sale of U.S. soybeans to China, this time 586,000 tonnes. With the purchase, reported by private exporters on Wednesday, China bought 3.8 million tonnes of soybeans in three days and is well on its way to the 5 million tonnes promised during a White House meeting last week.
Trade war panned as China buys more U.S. soy
Two outspoken Kansans scored the trade war with China as needlessly disruptive for the farm sector on Tuesday, with Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts comparing it to the five-week partial government shutdown and economist Barry Flinchbaugh urging Congress to curtail President Trump's power to impose tariffs in the name of national security. In a pause in the trade war, China bought 2.6 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans, the third-largest soy sale in USDA records.
China and U.S. are a long way from ending trade war
The tenor of Sino-U.S. negotiations is heartening but "we're still a long way" from resolving trade war between the world's two largest economies, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at a cattle industry conference. Meanwhile, China was following through on a pledge, announced at the White House, to buy U.S. soybeans, with some trade sources putting the purchases as high as 4 million tonnes, worth $1.35 billion.
At the White House, Chinese official says his country will buy more U.S. soybeans
In a letter read aloud at the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing will buy more U.S. farm exports, a decision that President Trump hailed on Thursday as a sign of good faith in ongoing negotiations to end the trade war between the nations.
Trump asks farmer support on shutdown, hints at farmworker reform
In a speech to the largest U.S. farm group, President Trump asked American farmers on Monday to take his side on the partial government shutdown over a border wall and said that with a secure border, "I'm going to make it easier" for farmworkers to enter the country. "Because we want to take people in to help our farmers, et cetera. Very important," he said.
Trade war side effect: Smallest ag trade surplus in 12 years
Although ag exports are consistently larger than ag imports, that trade surplus is forecast to narrow to $14.5 billion in fiscal 2019, which would be the smallest surplus since the $12.2 billion of 2007, say USDA economists.
White House expects immediate action by China on ag trade
Taking a "show me" stance, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Monday he expected China to roll back tariffs on U.S. farm exports promptly and begin trade reforms in line with the trade deal struck by President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The White House said over the weekend that China will make "very substantial" purchases of agricultural, energy and industrial goods but analysts saw no firm commitments in the statement.
‘New NAFTA’ helps alleviate farm income fears
Six in 10 respondents to a Purdue poll on farmer confidence said the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement had either completely or somewhat relieved their concerns about their income over the next year.
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.