Trump reminds farmers of trade war aid; Harris would fix ag labor shortages
Former president Donald Trump said in a questionnaire released on Thursday that he would use “every tool at my disposal,” including tariffs, to expand U.S. food and ag exports if he is re-elected. Vice President Kamala Harris would not tolerate unfair trade practices from China or other competitors, said senior aides to the Democratic nominee.
House votes to limit foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land
The Republican-controlled House swept aside Democratic objections to pass a just-written bill on Wednesday to restrict the purchase of agricultural land by citizens of China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran. “It is the beginning of the effort to keep our greatest adversaries from being able to purchase any American farmland,” said sponsor Rep. Dan Newhouse.
Mexico to displace China as top corn importer
China will remain the leading importer of soybeans and cotton, but Mexico will be the world's largest corn importer for the rest of this decade, said the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. The United States would be the top corn exporter despite increased competition from Brazil, said the University of Missouri think tank in updating its international marketing baseline.
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.
Mexico is on China’s heels as top U.S. food and ag export market
China was less than $500 million ahead of Mexico as the leading customer for U.S. food and ag exports as the fiscal year entered its final months, according to USDA data released Wednesday. The agricultural trade deficit, forecast to set a record this year, was already at $18.8 billion, with three months to go.
China falls to third place as U.S. ag export market, USDA says
U.S. food and ag exports to China will fall by $6 billion this fiscal year in the biggest slump in sales since the Sino-U.S. trade war, forecast the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. Mexico and Canada will surpass China as the top customers, while the agricultural trade deficit will widen to $32 billion.
Senators tell administration to ‘play offense’ on trade
The Biden administration is sitting on its hands when it ought to be knocking down trade barriers and negotiating new trade pacts for U.S. food and ag exports, said a bipartisan chorus of senators on Wednesday. Since President Biden took office in 2021, the administration has not initiated formal talks for a new free trade agreement anywhere, said members of the Senate Finance Committee during a hearing on the U.S. trade agenda.
Despite its hopes, China will remain a food importer, analysts say
President Xi Jinping has made food security a national priority since becoming China's leader a decade ago, with a multi-prong drive for self-sufficiency in food. It is "an improbable, if not impossible, goal," say analysts from the Brookings Institution and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a brief.
Senate Republicans renew bid to shift climate funds
Pointing to a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Republican staffers on the Senate Agriculture Committee proposed on Wednesday shifting more than $13 billion earmarked separately for climate mitigation into USDA land stewardship programs. Under Congress’ arcane budget rules, the transfer would result in a long-term increase of $1.8 billion a year for stewardship, they said, “subject only to congressional reauthorization.”
Mexico chases China for No. 1 export market
Mexico will buy a record $28.4 billion worth of U.S. food and agricultural exports this fiscal year, only $300 million less than China, the first-place customer, forecast the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. China is now buying more corn and soybeans from Brazil and less from the United States.
U.S. crop sector insulates itself from world market with biofuels, says analyst
After decades of pursuing sales to foreign buyers, the U.S. crop sector is “once again becoming domestic market-focused, due mainly to biofuels policy,” said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois, on Wednesday. It would be a significant, albeit gradual, change in focus.
Rice prices are up as India restricts exports
The global rice market is still feeling the impact of India’s decision last August to limit its rice exports in the name of battling high domestic food prices, said two IFPRI analysts. “Rice-importing countries in sub-Saharan Africa have felt the greatest impacts, scrambling to find alternative sources even as global rice prices have risen more than 20 percent since India imposed its restrictions,” they wrote in a blog.
‘A real risk’ for U.S. ag sector in talk of higher tariffs, confronting China — consultant
U.S. agriculture would be a target in a new trade war with China, said a private consultant speaking on a think tank panel on Monday, pointing to former president Donald Trump's support for higher tariffs and calls in the House for a reset of Sino-U.S. trade relations. But Trump's former ag negotiator said tariffs were "the only tool in the tool box" and Trump was right to use them in the past.
As inflation falls, ‘backwards pressure’ on food prices, analyst says
Compared to food price inflation of 11 percent in 2022, grocery price increases will be virtually nonexistent this year, said a Wells Fargo analyst Wednesday during a panel discussion on the 2024 outlook for the food and ag sector. A Rabobank analyst said that softer commodity prices would take the steam out of the hot farmland market.
Iowa eyes tougher enforcement of land ownership rules
Pointing at China, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds asked state lawmakers for stronger enforcement of laws that limit foreign ownership of farmland. “Let’s make sure that American soil remains in American hands,” she said during an annual address to the legislature.
Foreign buyers pay a premium for U.S. farmland, says analyst
An analysis of farmland sales in the Midwest and Plains states found foreign investors paid 13.7 percent more than American purchasers for comparable tracts, but the infrequent transactions did not affect land values overall, said Mykel Taylor, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Auburn University, on Tuesday. Foreign ownership is "pretty hot politically" as an issue, she said, and could result in the USDA becoming part of the powerful federal committee that decides if a foreign purchase poses a national security risk.
Swine epidemic in China casts long shadow on world pork market
China, the world's largest producer and consumer of pork, recovered from an epidemic of African swine fever among his pig herds by late 2021, three years after its first reported outbreak of the disease. Yet the domestic pork market remains volatile, "which may create additional uncertainty among pork exporters," said three USDA economists in a new report.
WTO backs U.S. in challenge of Chinese trade war tariffs
China wrongly imposed retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products including pork, wine, and fruits and nuts in response to Trump-era tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, said a WTO dispute panel on Wednesday. The trade war levies were an additional 25 percent on pork and an additional 15 percent on fruits and derived products.