Just when things were beginning to look as though they were turning around regarding U.S. relations with China, COVID-19 reared its ugly head. It has stirred up a lot of anti-China sentiment in this country and openly in the Trump Administration. The President going so far as to say he was considering pulling out of the trade deal we waited two years to get. Many are concerned that China is not holding up its end of the agreement. This was not something many farmers wanted to hear as markets are already on shaky ground. One trade adviser says we need to take a step back and take a deep breath, China is honoring its purchases.
Dave Salmonsen is a trade adviser for the American Farm Bureau Federation. He says that China has been in the market for corn, soybeans, beef, and wheat. They are also opening markets for barley and blueberries. Salmonsen concedes that China isn?t on the pace we hoped for, but they also suffered an economic downturn as a result of COVID-19, and that the year is not over yet.
The first quarter showed Chinese Ag purchases are at around $5 billion. Salmonsen says we hope to see those purchases continue to ramp higher.
Salmonsen says it will be hard to predict our relations with China after this pandemic is in the history books. However, farmers and agriculture are dependent on foreign trade, and China is a big market.
The current market situation is tenuous and agriculture cannot afford another major trade dispute with China.
