News
2020 trade with China well below pre-trade war levels
An ag economist says based on the first four months of 2020, trade with China has been disappointing.
David Widmar with Ag Economic Insights tells Brownfield the prospects of sales to China returning to pre-trade war levels seems very unlikely so far.
“We are well below anything that would resemble a record pace or even a pace necessary to get us back to pre-trade war levels.”
Widmar says soybean purchases, which accounted for 51% of US ag exports to China before the trade war, have mostly stalled since January making the dollar amount of 2020 soybean sales to China the lowest in five years.
“Even last year, when we had the trade war in full effect, they purchased less soybeans through April in 2020 than they had done in 2018 and 2019. So, it has been a pretty frustrating year for soybean sales.”
He says the majority of US ag sales to China typically happen October through December so he expects a significant increase in the last quarter, but it will be important to watch if those exceed sales from previous years.
Interview with David Widmar
