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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, September 27, 2024
President Donald Trump said Thursday he will hit roughly $300 billion worth of Chinese goods — effectively the only goods remaining untaxed in the ongoing trade war — with a 10% tariff on Sept. 1, raising concerns that the recently renewed trade talks are not going well.
The latest version of the Trump administration’s trade assistance for farmers may provide some growers with more money than their actual losses from the ongoing trade war with China, but supporters of the aid package say it’s vital to helping many produces to survive until better times.
The Agriculture Department overhauled its Market Facilitation Program to broaden the number of farmers that would receive the trade aid, but officials may encounter new grumbling over the wide disparities in county payment rates.
By the end of the year, China is finally expected to implement the quotas for corn, wheat and rice as it agreed to do about 20 years ago, but it may not be a cause for celebration for American farmers.
Crop insurance for corn, soybeans and wheat will cost more because of the expected effects of climate change on yields, the Economic Research Service concluded in a report made public Monday.
The telephone talks between U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators went well last week, potentially leading to an in-person meeting next week and an increase in Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans, according to Chinese and U.S. sources.
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the insecticide sulfoxaflor for use on corn, cotton, sorghum and citrus, as well as other crops, the agency announced Friday, saying it had concluded the chemical posed no significant risk to bees and that alternatives to the chemical are worse for the environment.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has agreed to reduce the some of the U.S. duties on biodiesel shipped from Argentina, and that has U.S. soybean farmers upset.
U.S. and Chinese officials are already talking again, albeit long distance, to negotiate an end to a prolonged trade war. But farmers are losing patience as exports continue to suffer.
Ag producers are more optimistic than last month about the future of the ag economy after a crop price rally, Market Facilitation Program announcement and disaster aid bill boosted producer sentiment in June.
