Farm Policy News

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided additional details on its trade assistance package for farmers.  Meanwhile, President Trump indicated that the U.S. and Mexico had reached an agreement on trade, which he described as a replacement of NAFTA, in what some observers saw as an effort to pressure Canada in ongoing trade negotiations.

Recent news reports suggest that trade talks between the U.S. and China last week yielded little progress towards resolution.  Some experts indicated that the ongoing trade conflict between the two countries could worsen.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture could release details on its trade aid package as early as Monday.

Today’s update explores recent news articles that discuss the impacts of the U.S., China trade dispute, with a focus on how farmers are reacting to ongoing tariffs.  In addition, midlevel talks between the U.S. and China have been scheduled as the two countries began to prepare for their first major negotiation in more than two months.

U.S. farmers are anxious for details on the trade assistance package the administration announced in July.  Press reports indicate that program guidelines could be issued by August 24th.  Meanwhile, business news articles and USDA data continue to shed light on agricultural export variables as the ongoing trade dispute with China continues.

Keith Bradsher and Cao Li reported in Saturday’s New York Times that, “China threatened on Friday to tax an additional $60 billion a year worth of imports from the United States if the Trump administration imposes its own new levies on Chinese goods. The threat comes just two days after President Trump ordered his administration to consider increasing the rate of tariffs it has already proposed on $200 billion a year of Chinese goods — everything from chemicals to handbags — to 25 percent from 10 percent.”

Although news reports indicate that the new Chinese duties “is leaving the farm largely unscathed,” ongoing concerns about the trade war persist, particularly as it relates to U.S. soybean exports.

Agricultural trade issues continue to garner a substantial amount of media attention.  The Commerce Department noted on Friday that surging U.S. soybean exports, spurred by the anticipation of Chinese tariffs, contributed to strong second quarter GDP growth.  Meanwhile, President Trump touted an agreement with the EU to purchase more U.S. soybeans, although a subsequent report pointed out that the accord fell short of addressing broader agricultural trade disputes.  Nonetheless, on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” television program, Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s economic advisor, indicated that broad discussions on agriculture will be part of the bilateral talks wth the EU.

A news release from USDA on Tuesday stated that, “U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the [USDA] will take several actions to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation. President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a short-term relief strategy to protect agricultural producers while the Administration works on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets in the long run to help American farmers compete globally. Specifically, USDA will authorize up to $12 billion in programs, which is in line with the estimated $11 billion impact of the unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods. These programs will assist agricultural producers to meet the costs of disrupted markets.”

Several recent news articles have discussed tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports and the impacts these policies are having on global commodity markets.  As the effects of trade policies ripple through the agricultural sector, a separate set of news items have highlighted how politicians and farmers are reacting to the impacts.  Today’s update provides an overview of these news stories.