Trade

Reuters writer Cassandra Garrison reported late last week that, “A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers called on Trade Representative on Friday to start consultations under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) over Mexico’s ban on genetically modified (GM) corn and the herbicide glyphosate.”

Selina Cheng reported on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal that, “China dropped many of its quarantine and testing requirements and curtailed the power of local officials to shut down entire city blocks, as the government accelerates plans to dismantle zero-Covid controls in the wake of nationwide protests.”

On Tuesday, the USDA released its Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade, a quarterly report from the Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Economic Research Service (ERS).  Today’s update includes highlights from the report, which was coordinated by Bart Kenner, Hui Jiang, Dylan Russell and James Kaufman.

Lingling Wei, Brian Spegele and Wenxin Fan reported on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal that, “Protests are erupting in major cities in China over President Xi Jinping‘s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19, an unusual show of defiance in the country as the economic and social costs from snap lockdowns and other strict restrictions escalate.”

Bloomberg writer Tarso Veloso Ribeiro reported yesterday that, “The first vessel carrying Brazilian corn to China is set to sail Wednesday after a deal earlier this year between the two nations.”

Financial Times writers Roman Olearchyk and Ayla Jean Yackley reported today that, “Ukraine says negotiators from Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to prolong a UN and Turkish-brokered Black Sea grain export agreement, a crucial step to alleviating a global food crisis triggered by the conflict.”

In its monthly Wheat Outlook report earlier this week, the USDA’s Economic Research Service pointed out that, “2022/23 global ending stocks are projected up 0.3 MMT to 267.8 MMT but remain the tightest since 2016/17.”

Bloomberg News reported today that, “Russia is expected to agree to extend a United Nations-brokered deal allowing exports of Ukrainian grain and other farm products from the Black Sea, ensuring a vital flow of foodstuffs to the world market.”

Ivan Nechepurenko and Matthew Mpoke Bigg reported in today’s New York Times that, “Russia on Wednesday rejoined an agreement allowing the shipment of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, one of the few areas of cooperation amid the war in Ukraine, easing uncertainty over the fate of a deal seen as crucial to preventing famine in other parts of the world.”

Financial Times writers Ayla Jean Yackley and Max Seddon reported today that, “Grain shipments from Ukraine will resume on Wednesday after Russia agreed to rejoin a UN-backed initiative to allow their export, ending a stand-off that threatened to reignite a global food crisis.”

Jared Malsin and Alistair MacDonald reported in today’s Wall Street Journal that, “Russia threatened to stop vessels carrying grain from Ukraine, two days after Moscow said it would abandon an agreement that guaranteed the safety of those exports and as ships continued to make the voyages Monday anyway.”

Bloomberg writers Selcan Hacaoglu, Agnieszka de Sousa, and Daryna Krasnolutska reported yesterday that, “Turkey, the UN and others looked for ways to salvage the Ukrainian grain export initiative after Moscow said it would pull out indefinitely following an attack on its Black Sea naval fleet.”

Financial Times writers Polina Ivanova, Christopher Miller and Emiko Terazono reported yesterday that, “Moscow has suspended its participation in a UN-backed deal with Kyiv that unblocked the movement of Ukrainian grain out of its southern ports, threatening to deepen the global food crisis.”

Dow Jones writer Will Horner reported yesterday that, “The future of the Black Sea grains deal is shaping up to be agricultural markets’ key concern this week, while weather for South American farmers and macroeconomic developments such as economic data and central bank meetings will also be in focus.”

Reuters writer Pavel Polityuk reported late last week that, “A total of 211 ships with 4.7 million tonnes of agricultural products on board have left Ukraine so far under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to unblock Ukrainian sea ports, the Ukrainian infrastructure ministry said on Saturday.”

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that, “China is redoubling its efforts to bolster food security by trying to cut the amount of soybeans that get turned into animal feed.”

Late last week, Bloomberg writer Courtney McBride reported that, “Russia has destroyed, damaged or seized control of 14% of Ukraine’s crop storage capacity since invading in February, jeopardizing the global food supply and threatening future harvests, a US government-backed report said Thursday.”

Financial Times writers John Reed and Jyotsna Singh reported late last week that, “India imposed controls on exports of several varieties of rice on Friday, in a move likely to affect the global market for one of the most commonly eaten staple foods as commodity prices surge following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Financial Times writers Polina Ivanova, Roman Olearchyk, Henry Foy, and David Sheppard yesterday that, “Vladimir Putin has criticised a grain deal signed with Ukraine that unblocked agricultural products trapped in the country by his government’s military assault, threatening an agreement that had eased a growing global food crisis.”