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Sep 20, 2018
President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. will impose 10 percent tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports next Monday. That 10 percent is slated to rise to 25 percent in January.
China has already vowed to retaliate, and the President has said that, should it do so, he would impose additional tariffs on another $267 billion in goods, which would affect almost all Chinese exports to the United States.
The American Soybean Association (ASA) is highly concerned about the ongoing, escalating feud, as it will continue to exacerbate damages both short term and long term to our China market. Since June, the price of U.S. soybeans at export position in New Orleans has dropped 20 percent, from $10.89 to $8.68 per bushel. Farm prices have fallen even further. During the same three month period, the premium being paid for Brazilian soybeans has increased from virtually zero to $2.18 per bushel, or $80 per metric ton (MT).
ASA continues to advocate for ending the tariff war and for long-term solutions to the loss of export markets, including concluding the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and negotiation of bilateral trade agreements that expand and diversify U.S. markets for soybean and livestock products.
