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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, May 08, 2024
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke with China’s top trade official Wednesday night in an “introductory virtual meeting” as the Chinese continue to make big purchases of U.S. agricultural commodities and the U.S. farm sector counts on strong trade to continue.
The U.S. ag sector really wants to know what’s coming next for the tenuous trade situation with China, but farmers and ranchers may have to settle for the status quo in the near future as the Biden administration takes its first steps toward dealing with the communist country.
The new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Georgia Rep. David Scott, passed his first test as Democrats stuck together Wednesday night to advance their piece of a sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package.
There were high hopes after the phase one agreement was implemented last February that China would finally overhaul its opaque and sluggish approval process for new agricultural biotech traits, but that optimism has mostly turned to disappointment a year later.
The U.S. exported $26.4 billion worth of agricultural goods to China in calendar year 2020, setting a new record, according to the latest USDA trade numbers that came out Friday.
China is emptying out U.S. corn and soybean supplies, helping make the 2020-21 marketing year a success for American farmers. That’s ramping up the pressure on the Biden administration to work out a sustainable trading connection between the countries even as the political relationship remains fraught.
USDA officials tell Agri-Pulse they are working “amicably” with the Biden transition team, which is paving the way for the incoming administration next week. On the international front, the transition team has been pressing USDA for details on the impacts of the “phase one” trade deal with China.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall kicked off the organization’s annual gathering by highlighting the organization’s efforts to build relationships with a host of new officials.
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped a China expert to be his U.S. Trade Representative, reflecting the most pressing trade issue his administration will face on day one – the ongoing trade war with the Asian economic powerhouse.
President-elect Joe Biden tells a New York Times columnist that he won't immediately remove the 25% tariffs on Chinese exports, but instead will reassess the situation and work with allies to pressure China to stop intellectual property abuses.
