Over the past several months, outside influences on the cotton industry have felt like the Dahlonega Mine Train at Six Flags Over Georgia: ups, downs, dramatic twists, and lots of bumps along the way. Producers have seen proposed policies fail, others be implemented, a significant market uptick, one of the US’s largest overseas markets be closed then open again, and …
Rural Mainstreet Index Chief Eyeing Two Economic Red Flags
The Rural Mainstreet Index has been steadily climbing over the last four months, signaling improving conditions in farm country. However, the man behind the RMI, Ernie Goss from Creighton University, says he has his eyes on two issues; trade and interest rates. A Farm Journal report says Goss credits exports as one of the biggest reasons for improving economic conditions, …
USDA Heavily Involved in Trade Talks
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service has been “intimately involved” with U.S. trade negotiators and will be included in an upcoming trip to China. Politico says the U.S. delegation will be led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says the Foreign Ag Service, “was at Secretary Ross’ left elbow last week during the discussions specifically on commodities we …
Trump Raises Doubts About U.S.-Chinese Trade
President Donald Trump cast doubts on Wednesday regarding the prospects for talks between the U.S. and China that are aimed at heading off a trade war. An Associated Press report says just four days after the two countries suspended their plans to impose up to $200 billion in tariffs on each other, Trump declared in a tweet that a more …
U.S.-China Trade War a Win For Other Nations?
A Politico report says the real winners of a trade war with China could be some of America’s top global trade competitors. As the two countries push toward a trade deal, long-term trends could be stacked against American producers when it comes to Beijing’s consumption. China will likely keep pouring resources into other countries in an attempt to diversify its …
What’s Next for China-U.S. Trade?
Politico says the preliminary trade agreement between China and the U.S. announced over the weekend raises more questions than it answers. No one knows how soon it comes together and things start to happen. While China agreed to buy significantly more American agricultural products, there aren’t any hard numbers attached to that promise yet. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will …
Farmers for Free Trade Suggestions on Improving China/U.S. Trade Relations
Farmers for Free Trade call the framework of a trade agreement between the U.S. and China as a good first step toward ending tensions that have hurt American agriculture. The group applauds the Trump Administration’s focus on supporting U.S. agricultural exports. However, they do note that there’s still a lot of work to do in order to put a solid …
USDA Official Hopeful by Recent Trade Advancements with China
While a trade war may be on hold between the U.S. and China, a Department of Agriculture official says the Trump administration remains ready to support farmers and ranchers, if needed. China and the U.S. put the trade war tariffs on hold, for now, as the two sides are negotiating. Speaking at the ONE18: The Alltech Ideas Conference, USDA Undersecretary …
China Promises to Buy More American Agricultural Goods
After two rounds of trade talks between the world’s largest economies, China has promised to buy significantly more U.S. agriculture and energy products to help reduce its trade surplus with America. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin outlined his targets for boosting sales over the weekend but it remains unclear if China has agreed to reduce the deficit by the $200 billion …
Administration Focusing on Good, Not Quick, NAFTA 2.0
Bloomberg says the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are all on separate pages when it comes to a new North American Free Trade Agreement. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the administration is more focused on reaching a good deal rather than an immediate one. Mnuchin says it doesn’t matter if it’s passed in this session of Congress or the next one. …