Now that President Trump and Chinese President Jinping have agreed to a temporary trade truce, Trump says China has promised to buy large amounts of ag products from U.S. farmers.
Soybeans are likely to be on top of the list. Soybean farmers have been hit hardest by Trump?s trade war because China was once the top export market for U.S. soybeans. Beijing bought another 544,000 metric tons last week, its largest buy since March.
Pork might be another key item on the list as pork producers have also been hit hard by the trade feuds, especially with China and Mexico. As African Swine Fever continues to ravage China?s once-giant herds, Beijing could now turn to U.S. hog farmers to fill in the country?s appetite for protein.
Ethanol exports to China could potentially grow. That would help ease some pressure on corn growers and biofuel producers, a key constituency that?s complained the administration?s trade policies are harming demand for ethanol. The only question is that China doesn?t maintain government reserves of ethanol and the tariffs are currently prohibitive. As of right now, there isn?t a lot of space for China to buy up huge amounts of the biofuel.
