Trade
Ratification of trade pact with Canada is test of EU cohesion
If the EU fails to approve a free-trade agreement with Canada, its trade policy will be "close to death," in the view of the bloc's director-general for trade, reported Politico.
Cotton glut is worked down in China, worldwide
China has sold around 1.6 million tonnes of cotton from its state-owned reserve since daily auctions began in May, sharply reducing the burdensome stockpile, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee.
Brexit may hobble US-EU free-trade negotiations
The decision by UK voters to leave the European Union will complicate the contentious negotiations for a U.S.-EU free trade agreement. And it could redound on regulation of pesticides such as glyphosate and neonicotinoids.
With signing of TPP, the question is ratification
Trade ministers of the 12 nations that negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership say the free-trade agreement "will set a new standard for trade and investment in one of the world’s fastest growing and most dynamic regions."
Global food trade triples, continues to grow
Agricultural trade rules "should be crafted with an eye to improving countries' food security and other development objectives," said the Food and Agriculture Organization in releasing the biennial update of one of its flagship reports.
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.
U.S. sorghum boom silenced by Chinese cutback
China is scaling back on its imports of feedstuffs such as corn, sorghum and the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains (DDGs), with U.S. sorghum exports hit the hardest, says the monthly Grain: World Markets and Trade report. USDA slashed its forecast of sorghum imports by China by 30 percent, or 4 million tonnes.
Canada’s new ag minister is former potato, dairy farmer
Lawrence MacAuley, a former seed potato and dairy farmer, is Canada's new agriculture minister. A former solicitor general and minister of labor, MacAuley has represented a district on Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of St Lawrence and north of the Nova Scotia peninsula, says CBC. Agriculture is an important industry on the island, which grows a quarter of the country's potatoes.
Experts propose USDA reorganization for new president
The Agriculture Department should be reorganized to give a higher priority to food safety, better coordinate services to farmers, and link market development with trade, recommends a panel of experts.
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.
Vietnam accuses U.S. of dumping chicken meat
Chicken farmers in Vietnam say they will file an anti-dumping complaint with their nation's Competition Authority next month against imports of U.S. poultry meat, just days after the TPP trade accord was reached. "Vietnam’s Southeastern Livestock Association asserts the poultry is sold at prices lower than those in the United States," Bloomberg reported.
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.
Japan offers annual rise in duty-free U.S. rice
With Trans-Pacific Partnership talks at a crucial point, Japan plans to offer immediate duty-free entry for 50,000 tonnes of U.S. rice, gradually rising to 70,000 tonnes, says Nikkei.
Enormous potential in Cuba, ag trade is not a one-way street
World Food Prize laureate Pedro Sanchez, a soils scientist, says Cuba "could be a very good market" for U.S. food companies, but adds that "it's not a one-way situation." In an interview with UC Food Observer, Sanchez said, "America has so much to learn from Cuba. Some of the agricultural techniques used in Cuba may benefit our food system."
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.
Ag trade deficit tops $15 billion with four months to go
The U.S. agricultural trade deficit was a record $17 billion in fiscal year 2023 and is certain to break records again this year, according to preliminary federal data released on Monday. The cumulative deficit totaled $15.2 billion at the end of May, with four months remaining in fiscal year 2024.