Trade
“The sourcing from international markets has become mandatory. It’s more likely that things will get expensive than change,” says Jim DiLisi of Fanwood Chemical.
A global industry with tightly tied supply lines is riding the tariff roller coaster as the world waits to see how President Trump’s tariff strategy will play out.
As the trade war heats up, the reality is China is still the top export destination for U.S. farmers, even if the country isn’t buying as many soybeans as 2018.
After China retaliated with its own tariffs, the U.S. said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China would take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by Trump’s sweeping tariff plan.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has confirmed that Japan will take priority in the administration’s upcoming trade negotiations, underscoring its strategic importance as both a military ally and major economic partner.
As tariff proposals continue to bring uncertainty, the agricultural sector is assessing how any forthcoming country-by-country trade deals might offset the disruption, or if the industry needs to brace itself for a different kind of future.
More than 50 countries have reached out to the Trump administration to open negotiations following the sweeping new tariffs.
The senior senator from Iowa is renewing a long-standing legislative effort to wrestle back authority on trade deals and tariffs from the executive branch.
Cheap cotton prices and dwindling demand are just part of the problem. Input costs have climbed and there’s no safety net to be found from a new farm bill. One Georgia farmer says the current farm bill is irrelevant and worthless, and if a new one doesn’t get passed this year, the cotton industry is doomed.
The 34% reciprocal tariff announced by China on Friday is in addition to the original 20% retaliatory tariff China issued in March, which targeted 15 products including beef, cotton, grain sorghum, pork, corn, dairy and fresh fruit.