Trump to meet Xi in 4 weeks
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in four weeks. One of the major topics of discussion will be US soybean purchases, which have been adversely affected by recent trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Trump had last month announced that me would meet Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea. He also said that he would be traveling to China next year.
Export losses
ASA urges Trump to focus on soybeans in trade talks
Trump also reiterated plans to use some US tariff income to help farmers, while criticizing his predecessor Joe Biden for failing to enforce an earlier trade agreement with Beijing that included an increase in farm purchases. The American Soybean Association (ASA) has urged Trump to focus on soybeans in his trade talks with China. The association had warned in August that China's retaliatory tariffs are shutting American farmers out of their largest export market.
Export impact
Trump's trade policies have hurt US farmers
China is the world's top buyer of soybeans, and the US was formerly a key supplier to the world's second-largest economy. But "the US has made zero sales to China in this new crop marketing year due to 20-percent retaliatory tariffs imposed by China in response to US tariffs," Caleb Ragland, ASA president, said last week. "This has allowed other exporters, Brazil and now Argentina, to capture our market at the direct expense of US farmers," he added.
Market competition
Trade tension impact
During his first term, retaliatory tariffs from China led to over $27 billion in agricultural export losses for the US from mid-2018 to late-2019. Trade tensions with Beijing in 2018 caused total US soybean exports to plummet to their lowest level in nine years, with shipments to China plunging 74% from the previous year. Soybeans, the top US farm export, as well as corn, wheat, and beef exports, are all vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs.