Exports
U.S. farm exports tumble, led by China
U.S. farm exports will slump this year to $125 billion, the lowest level since 2010, due to strong competition from other exporting nations and reduced demand for imports, said the Agriculture Department in a quarterly update.
U.S. relaxes rules on pesticide sales to Cuba
The Obama administration announced new rules, effective today, to expand travel and trade with Cuba, including sales of agricultural herbicides, insecticides and pesticides. The revisions do not change the requirement for Cuba to pay cash in advance for U.S. food and agricultural exports.
Obama to Congress: Pass TPP, end Cuba embargo
The United States can show its leadership in the world and reap benefits for itself through cooperative action, President Obama said in his final State of the Union speech. During the hour-long address, he asked Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific free-trade agreement and to end the half-century trade embargo on Cuba.
China crimps U.S. Farm exports
The government lowered its forecast of U.S. farm exports by 5 percent from August. The $7 billion cut was due to "lower prices, strong competition and diminishing Chinese demand," said USDA in a quarterly report.
Exports surge as drought trims California almond output
Drought and limited supplies of irrigation water in California will reduce the almond crop by 4 percent at the same time that the global appetite for the nut is on the rise, says the USDA. The biannual Tree Nut: World Markets and Trade report forecasts a 5-percent increase in U.S. exports, to 600,000 tonnes, "largely on additional shipments to China and India."
Japan is biggest TPP prize for California agriculture
Like U.S. agriculture overall, 40 percent of California's agricultural exports go to nations that are part of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade bloc, say three UC-Davis economists. In a newsletter, they say the agreement, if approved, "would lower import barriers and facilitate export for many of California's significant agricultural exports to the Pacific Rim nations - most importantly in Japan."
Conaway urges tougher enforcement of trade rules
Decrying "cheating by foreign countries," House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway called for tougher action to protect U.S. exports. "Things must change. Our agreements must be enforced," said Conaway at a hearing on international trade as the World Trade Organization tries to wrap up the long-running Doha Round of negotiations.
Smallest U.S. exports ever amid record world wheat crop
U.S. wheat exports are headed for "a new record low of 850 million" bushels due to mammoth supplies worldwide and the strong dollar, which pushes U.S. wheat out of the price range of some importers, says the monthly Wheat Outlook. Exports usually are around the 1 billion-bushel level and amount to 45 percent of the crop.
Brazil to hit the century mark in soybeans
Soybean growers in Brazil, driven by higher domestic prices, will expand plantings for the tenth year in a row and reap a record 100 million tonnes of the oilseed, said USDA. Brazil is second to the United States as a soybean grower but the world leader in soybean exports.
At USDA, Obama launches TPP ratification drive
President Obama traveled to the Agriculture Department headquarters on the national Mall to seek support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, one day after the pact was sealed and months before Congress will vote on it. "We are going to be talking not just to members of Congress but the American public and various constituencies, and governors, and mayors who are represented here about why this is good for their communities," Obama said.
U.S. groups detail benefits, or lack of them, in 12-nation TPP
The newly concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership will remove sales barriers from nations that buy $63 billion worth of U.S. farm exports, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Almost as soon as accord was announced in Atlanta, completing five years of negotiations, U.S. farm groups focused on its benefits - or lack of them - for Americans.
China buys one-eighth of U.S. soybean crop
Ahead of today’s meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obama, Chinese trade groups signed contracts to buy more than 484 million bushels of U.S. soybeans, a deal worth $5.3 billion, said the U.S. Soybean Export Council.
Senate sends ag-reauthorization bill to House
With time running out, the Senate passed and sent to the House a bill to reauthorize federal inspection of export grain and a requirement for meatpackers to report purchase prices of cattle, hogs and sheep.
Export inspection, price-reporting bill cleared for Senate vote
The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill to reauthorize federal inspection of export grain and the requirement that meatpackers report purchase prices of cattle, hogs and sheep. The five-year reauthorization now goes to the Senate floor for a vote. The House approved separate bills to reauthorize the programs on June 9 by voice votes.
Sizable obstacles for U.S. farm exports to Cuba
U.S. ag exporters face barriers to becoming a major food supplier to Cuba despite the restoration of diplomatic relations, said the head of the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. In testimony to a House Foreign Relations subcommittee, administrator Phil Karsting said Cuba imports more than $2 billion a year in food. The U.S. share was $287 million in 2014, according to the Commerce Department, less than half of the total for 2008.
Turmoil in China may reduce world trade in grains, soybeans
Economic turmoil in China, the world's largest importer of rice and soybeans, could dampen world trade in feedstuffs and soybeans, said the International Grains Council.
Canada to replace China as top buyer of U.S. farm exports
Canada will return to the rank of No. 1 importer of U.S. farm goods and China will drop to No. 2 as U.S. soybean exports wither by 19 percent due to the strong dollar and large crops in South America, the USDA said in its first forecast of fiscal 2016 exports.
A cost of production advantage for sorghum over corn
Sorghum is enjoying a resurgence after years of being over-shadowed by corn, thanks in large part to large exports to China that have boosted market prices.
Ag is sole bright spot in Sino-U.S. trade
So far this year, U.S. exports to China are running at 2021's level and there is little reason to expect improvement in the near term, said analyst Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics on Monday. "While agriculture overall remains a U.S. export bright spot in 2022, products like pork, wheat, and corn face new worries," he wrote.