China
Chinese delegation to visit U.S. farms next week
In what may be an opening in the Sino-U.S. trade war, a group of Chinese officials will tour U.S. farms next week, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday.
China buys U.S. soybeans ahead of trade talks
Private exporters reported their second major sale of U.S. soybeans to China as the two nations prepare for working-level meetings to resolve their trade war, said the USDA on Monday. Mid-level negotiators are expected to meet on Friday, ahead of ministerial discussions in early October.
Will Congress close the checkbook on Trump tariff payments?
A veritable footnote in the $4 trillion federal budget could become a top-line issue this week in the debate between lawmakers and the administration over government funding. House Democrats might refuse to provide money for the obscure USDA agency that has sent billions of dollars in cash to farmers and ranchers to mitigate the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war.
China buys $67 million worth of U.S. soybeans as trade war eases
Ahead of working-level U.S.-Chinese trade talks this week, China bought $67 million worth of U.S. soybeans and said it would exempt American pork and soy from additional tariffs taking effect this month. President Trump said he would "rather get the whole deal done" but could be open to a mini-deal with China.
The road to China runs through the USMCA, say backers
At a farm group rally on Thursday for approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, two senior members of the U.S. House said that action on the USMCA would carry benefits in resolving the Sino-U.S. trade war.
We’ve got pork. China needs it, say hog farmers.
Leaders of the National Pork Producers Council appealed to China to remove its 60 percent tariff on imports of U.S. pork so it can bring down the soaring price of pork for Chinese consumers.
In goodwill gesture, Trump delays higher Chinese tariffs for two weeks
Hours after complimenting China for waiving tariffs on some U.S. products, President Trump announced on Wednesday a two-week delay, until Oct. 15, of higher tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese-made goods. On social media, Trump called the delay “a gesture of good will.”
China and U.S. to meet on trade in early October
Senior Chinese and U.S. officials will resume trade talks in Washington in early October, a month later than initially planned, said China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. Working-level discussions are planned for mid-September “to fully prepare for the substantial progress of the high-level consultations,” said the ministry.
Trade war payments near $2.5 billion in two weeks
The USDA has paid $2.46 billion to farmers and ranchers since disbursements began on Aug. 21 to mitigate the effects of the Sino-U.S. trade war, said the USDA on Wednesday.
Farmer confidence plunges as trade war expands
Although most producers say Trump tariff payments will "completely or somewhat" relieve the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war on their operations, farmer confidence is plummeting, according to a Purdue University poll released Tuesday. The Ag Economy Barometer, a gauge of the health of the agricultural economy, fell from a record high of 153 in July to the lowest reading — 124 — since May.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Mild recovery forecast for U.S. ag exports after a trade war tumble
U.S. farm exports plunged by an abrupt 6 percent this year due to the Sino-U.S. trade war and a worldwide slowdown in economic growth, but they will rebound mildly in the year ahead, said the USDA on Thursday. However, the agency’s first forecast of exports in fiscal 2020 excluded the impact of a promised mutual escalation this fall of the trade war between China and the United States.
Retaliatory tariffs bite U.S. farmers, not the importers
For nine of the 11 commodities examined by ag lender CoBank, "U.S. producers — not the importing country or its consumers — paid the cost" of retaliatory tariffs. "U.S. farms are taking the brunt of the retaliatory tariffs placed on their products, reflecting the lopsided balance of power between U.S. producers and their importing customers," concluded three CoBank analysts, who said America will pay a price in the future, too.
Promise and delay, the latest step in Trump’s dance with corn and oil interests
President Trump will soon announce a plan to boost demand for biofuels. At least that’s what Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told participants in a policy forum at the Illinois Farm Progress Show on Wednesday. But no one — including Trump or Perdue — seems to know exactly what that plan will be, let alone when it will be announced or implemented.
As Trump’s trade agenda falters, Dems see rural America in play for 2020
After years of effectively writing off rural voters, based on their solid support for the GOP, Democratic candidates for the White House are suddenly turning up frequently in Iowa — where the primary season kicks off in February — and rolling out rural initiatives on everything from ethanol and broadband to crop subsidies and healthcare.
Chinese officials hint at waiting out Trump on a trade deal, says report
Chinese officials are growing increasingly wary of President Trump, suggesting that the risks of making a trade deal with him are greater than the costs of delaying one until after the 2020 election because of fears Trump might renege on an agreement, according to a Bloomberg report.
Trump trade rollercoaster heads back up but with conflicting claims
After a weekend in which Trump lashed out angrily at China, calling its leader "an enemy," Trump was making nice again at the end of the G7 meeting on Monday, praising Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "great man" and saying prospects for a trade deal looked brighter. Soybean prices rose on the news.
Promise of Japan deal caps Trump’s turbulent weekend on trade
In 48-hour span, starting Friday, President Trump roiled global markets by Tweeting his intention to again raise tariffs on China and ordering U.S. companies out of the country, then appeared to backpedal, saying at the G7 summit he was having "second thoughts" about escalating the U.S.-Sino trade war. The weekend ended with a bit of potentially good news on trade, when Trump and Japan President Shinzo Abe announced an agreement "in principle" on a deal that would include Japan buying surplus corn from the U.S.
New round of Trump tariff payments is flowing
The USDA began issuing payments to farmers and ranchers on Wednesday in this year’s first round of trade aid to offset the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war, said Richard Fordyce, head of the Farm Service Agency.