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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
China’s approval of a whopping 51 new genetically modified varieties of corn and soybeans for planting on Chinese fields is a major development in the country’s changing stance on its acceptance of the technology.
Legislation is being introduced in the House and Senate to create a task force composed of officials with USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative's Office to identify agricultural trade barriers such as India’s farm subsidies that should be challenged at the World Trade Organization.
Farm groups have grown accustomed over the last few years to having more money to work with for promoting their products overseas, but that abundance could come to an end quickly.
China says it is ready to join the plant biotechnology revolution, opening its fields to the widespread cultivation of genetically modified soybean and corn crops in an effort to bolster domestic production, but it’s unclear if the transformation will benefit U.S. exports.
The Biden administration has so far opted not to enter into traditional, tariff-cutting free trade agreements, and farm groups are now turning to the large field of candidates hoping to be the next president to make the case for new trade deals.
China had no right to hit U.S. exports – including farm commodities - with retaliatory tariffs five years ago in response to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, according to a ruling Wednesday by a World Trade Organization dispute panel.
Overall, American agricultural exports have recovered from the trade war with China that began five years ago, but many specialty crops still suffer from Chinese retaliatory tariffs.
There were fears that even though U.S. ag exports to China were rising after the countries agreed to a trade war détente during the Trump administration, the U.S. might never recover its pre-trade war share of China’s imports.
