Trade
“When Ukraine fails, in terms of their ability to produce agricultural products, the world becomes less safe,” says Howard Buffett, global philanthropist and Illinois farmer.
Russia is now saying it will only extend its Black Sea grain deal if sanctions are lifted on its own agricultural products. The deal, which was brokered last year, allowed for safe passage of Ukrainian ag products.
Morocco is sitting on 75-85% of proven global phosphate reserves, but projections of phosphate depletion span from 50 to 300 years. John Phipps explains why the concerns about peak phosphate production may be overblown.
Mexico is accusing the U.S. of playing politics over the GMO corn issue, but NCGA CEO Neil Caskey says if Mexico wants non-GMO, they’ll need to pay a premium for it instead of violating a trade pact already in place.
“In this current situation, the traditional approach to free trade agreements — which isn’t just tariff cuts, but that they do tariff cuts on a fully comprehensive basis — isn’t what we need right now,” Tai says.
A year ago, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine injected uncertainty about global grain supplies into the market. Today, initial concerns have been squashed by the reality of record exports from the Black Sea Region.
The U.S. appears to be pursuing a case via USMCA on the matter: “That is going to happen, because we’re essentially in a circumstance where this is not a situation that lends itself to a compromise,” Vilsack said.
Despite weather trends, planting projections for 2023 find corn, wheat and soybeans similar to 2022, for a combined 228 million acres—a 3% increase from 2022.
Is the Biden Administration’s trade agenda finally making some progress? Farm groups are hopeful after key appointments are confirmed and some recent success stories on the trade front.
Nearly one year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukraine’s agriculture is still in severe disarray. The trade flow disruptions contributed to forcing an additional 60 million people into acute food insecurity.