Shopping in China: Strong demand from China, which recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic faster than most other countries, helped reinforce the USDA’s forecast.
For the period from October to December, exports to China “reached a historic high of US $ 14.4 billion, largely due to strong shipments of soybeans, corn, sorghum, wheat, cotton and chicken legs,” he said. the USDA. “Excellent sales for many of these products remain high, with corn sales at unprecedented levels.”
The fiscal year 2021 started on October 1 and therefore includes the last three months and 20 days of former President Donald Trump’s term. US agricultural exports to China are also likely to set a new record for the 2021 calendar year, except for an unexpected slowdown.
Business stage: The numbers are a partial justification for Trump, who signed a phase one trade agreement with China in January 2020 with the goal in large part of boosting U.S. agricultural exports. But Beijing’s purchases under this agreement are still below expectations.
American officials said China has pledged to buy about $ 30 billion in U.S. agricultural products in 2020 and about $ 38 billion in 2021. U.S. agricultural exports to China doubled last year, to about US $ 26.4 billion, but missed the first stage goal.
China was the largest foreign market for U.S. agricultural products before Trump took office in 2017. U.S. agricultural exports to China that year totaled $ 19.5 billion, up from $ 21.4 billion in 2016, the last year of the Barack Obama administration.
After Trump began to impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese products, Beijing retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports. U.S. agricultural exports to China collapsed, falling to $ 9.1 billion in 2018.
Now China is once again the US agricultural export market, the USDA said.
What is the next: The Biden government is reviewing Trump’s first phase agreement and the tariffs he imposed on more than $ 350 billion in Chinese products. Biden’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, may face questions on these topics at her confirmation hearing at the Senate Finance Committee next Thursday.