trade war NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 trade war Sat, 08 May 2021 09:40:52 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Amy Mayer Balance sheets for farms may look better at the end of 2020 than they have in years. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast . Some expenses have been lower this year, like diesel to power farm equipment, interest on bank loans and livestock. “We haven’t had a decline in expenses of this magnitude or duration since the farm crisis of the early 1980s,” says USDA economist Carrie Litowski. But in a presentation about the latest data on farm income, she said income from crop and livestock sales has declined in 2020, even as overall farmers should pull in more money. “The expected increase in 2020 is largely because of supplemental and ad hoc disaster assistance payments for COVID-19 relief,” Litowski says. Many farmers got checks through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and some also borrowed through the Paycheck Protection Program, which will convert loans to grants if certain criteria are met. USDA calculates that as income for now but will make https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farm-income-year-mostly-thanks-uncle-sam 947 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 04 Dec 2020 15:32:53 +0000 Farm Income Up This Year, Mostly Thanks To Uncle Sam Dana Cronin It’s been almost ten months since the signing of the first phase of a trade agreement between the United States and China. In the lofty deal, China pledged to buy an additional $200 billion in goods and services over two years. Since its signing, President Trump has repeatedly touted the deal on the campaign trail, citing its benefits for the agriculture sector in particular. But according to the most recent public data available, China is falling short on its purchases. “Overall, it's incredibly unlikely for China to be able to meet the goals,” says Chad Bown , Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Bown estimates that China had only reached 53% of the expected purchase target through the end of September. “They would have to buy a lot of aircraft in the last three months of 2020. You know, big-ticket items like that,” he says. “They would have to buy a lot of soybeans.” The phase one agreement was ambitious to begin with, and some trade experts have https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/incredibly-unlikely-china-will-meet-its-trade-targets-expert-says 936 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 30 Oct 2020 22:03:58 +0000 ‘Incredibly Unlikely’ China Will Meet Its Trade Targets, Expert Says Seth Bodine Farmers in the South were paid more on average than those in the Midwest and Great Plains from a government program set up to offset the losses due to the trade war with China, according to a new study from the Government Accountability Office. After China placed retaliatory tariffs on crops, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Market Facilitation Program to help farmers make up the lost income. A new report from the Government Accountability Office analyzed the distribution of the payments by state. Georgia farmers received an average payment in 2019 of $42,545, the highest in the country. Mississippi had the second highest payments with an average of $35,532. The GAO study was prompted when the USDA changed the way money was distributed — from payments for specific crops to payment rates by county. Bart Fischer, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, says while farmers in states like Georgia and Mississippi received higher https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-south-paid-more-market-facilitation-program 920 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:06:24 +0000 Farmers in South Paid More From Market Facilitation Program Dana Cronin In the past two weeks, the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) has issued about $1.4 billion to agricultural producers to provide a boost amid the coronavirus pandemic. What’s unclear is how those distributions were calculated. “We lack some pretty key transparency on how they get to the payment,” says Jonathan Coppess , Assistant Professor of agriculture at the University of Illinois. The payments are part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program ( CFAP ), a program launched by the USDA in April to maintain the food supply chain and feed hungry Americans. CFAP includes a total of $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers. So far, Midwestern states, led by Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas, have received the bulk of the money. Livestock producers have been top earners overall as well. While the USDA is releasing weekly tallies of where the money is going, it’s unclear how they’re making those determinations. “USDA’s provided information that https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-lacks-transparency-how-its-distributing-coronavirus-aid 873 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:15:02 +0000 USDA 'Lacks Transparency' In How It's Distributing Coronavirus Aid Amy Mayer The first phase of a new trade agreement between the United States and China is scheduled for a White House signing ceremony Wednesday and many in the agriculture community are hoping the deal will bring some relief to the farm economy. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/agriculture-hopes-win-us-and-china-prepare-sign-phase-one-trade-deal 817 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 14 Jan 2020 22:01:43 +0000 Agriculture Hopes For A Win As U.S. And China Prepare To Sign Phase One Trade Deal Christina Stella The Trump administration confirmed this week negotiations for the first phase of a US-China trade agreement are finished. President Trump also elected not to enact additional tariffs planned for December 15th. Brad Lubben, an agricultural economist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was happy to see a trade ceasefire between the two countries. But he said the hardest work likely lies ahead for negotiators who may not see eye-to-eye on how to de-escalate tariffs. “If the U.S. says China is going to substantially increase its ag exports, and China says it will increase its purchases, but only to the extent that the market dictates, then how do you follow Chinese purchases closely? And how do you determine what really represents a follow up on their promise, and what really represents changing market conditions?” Lubben said. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said China will purchase at least 40 billion dollars in agricultural goods over the next two years. According to https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/phase-one-trade-deal-nears-finish-line-some-details-still-arent-clear 815 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 20 Dec 2019 23:51:00 +0000 As A Phase One Trade Deal Nears The Finish Line, Some Details Still Aren't Clear Amy Mayer During 2019, the curveballs thrown at farmers began with the partial government shutdown in January, when some U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies were closed. Spring brought a storm system—called a bomb cyclone—that dumped rain on top of frozen fields unable to make use of it, kicking off weeks of flooding exacerbated by additional precipitation. Planting ran later than usual and some farmers never got a cash crop into certain saturated fields. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/2019s-many-challenges-keep-farm-incomes-down-cant-squelch-perennial-farmer-optimism 801 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:10:51 +0000 2019's Many Challenges Keep Farm Incomes Down, But Can't Squelch Perennial Farmer Optimism Amy Mayer Japan’s Parliament is convening this month and will likely take up a new trade deal with the United States. If enacted, the agreement might bring some good news to farmers, but no one really knows. Official language of the deal has not yet been made public, though the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it would increase access to the Japanese market for U.S. wheat, pork, and beef . https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/japans-parliament-take-trade-deal-us-no-one-knows-whats-it 790 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 03 Oct 2019 20:45:36 +0000 Japan's Parliament To Take Up Trade Deal With U.S., But No One Knows What's In It Dan Charles If you're caught in a trade war, it's good to be a farmer. Lots of American companies have lost sales since the Trump administration and China embarked on the current cycle of tariff-raising and retaliation. Few, if any, have been compensated as handsomely as farmers. This week, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue unveiled details of the latest aid package for farmers who've lost export sales. It includes $14.5 billion in direct payments to farmers, another $1.4 billion in government purchases of agricultural commodities that will be distributed to food banks, and $100 million in loose change to promote exports to new countries. This is on top of $12 billion in aid that the Trump administration distributed last year. Farmers will receive payments simply based on how much land they've planted with crops that are affected by tariffs, how much milk they produce or how many hogs they own. "We want sign-up to be easy for producers [and] straightforward," said Bill Northey, undersecretary https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/economists-say-trump-administration-overpaying-farmers-trade-losses 758 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 25 Jul 2019 20:08:22 +0000 Economists Say Trump Administration Is Overpaying Farmers For Trade Losses A Brazilian-owned meat processing company undercut its competition by more than $1 per pound to win nearly $78 million in pork contracts through a federal program launched to help American farmers offset the impact from an ongoing trade war. As a result, JBS USA has won more than 26 percent of the $300 million the USDA has allocated to pork so far — more than any other company, according to an analysis of bid awards by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting . https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/jbs-accounts-quarter-pork-bought-federal-government-offset-trade-losses 753 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 10 Jul 2019 18:29:17 +0000 JBS Accounts For A Quarter Of Pork Bought By The Federal Government To Offset Trade Losses Bobby Allyn Updated at 6:15 p.m. ET The Trump administration will provide $16 billion in aid to help keep farmers afloat as they reel from the yearlong trade war between the U.S. and China, the latest sign that the world's two largest economies are still far from striking a long-term trade agreement. The bulk of the support, or about $14.5 billion, is direct aid to farmers, which producers will start to see some time this summer, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters in a briefing on Thursday. "While farmers themselves will tell you they'd rather have trade than aid, without the trade that has been possible, they're going to need some support," he said. Perdue placed the blame for farmers' economic losses on China, rather than on the Trump administration's own hard-line trade tactics. "Frankly," he said, "all of this would have been moot if China would have acted appropriately and fairly in many of the areas regarding intellectual property theft and nontariff barriers that they have https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/white-house-announces-16-billion-aid-farmers-hurt-china-trade-dispute 728 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 23 May 2019 18:17:36 +0000 White House Announces $16 Billion In Aid To Farmers Hurt By China Trade Dispute Amy Mayer U.S. farmers have long depended on foreign buyers for some of their corn, soybeans, pork and other products. And federal officials have used some agricultural commodities as tools of diplomacy for decades. But as the Trump administration has pursued hard-line moves with major trading partners, especially China, farmers have found themselves with huge surpluses — and on the receiving end of government aid. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/us-china-trade-war-reminder-agricultures-deep-dependence-exports 722 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 22 May 2019 13:33:09 +0000 U.S.-China Trade War Is A Reminder Of Agriculture's Deep Dependence On Exports Yuki Noguchi The prices of the things we buy, from floor lamps to canoes and bicycles, are slated to go up, literally overnight, as the Trump administration makes good on a promise to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese products . With trade talks between the U.S. and China yielding no deal , consumers and the businesses that serve them say they're bracing for bigger ripple effects. Retailers, manufacturers, small farmers and multinational conglomerates are united in their concern about the potentially damaging impacts of additional tariffs to their businesses and their consumers. The way that reverberates through Jim Kittle's family furniture business is indicative of how that might pass down through to consumers. Kittle's Furniture started in 1932, expanded throughout Indiana and has remained in the family for three generations. About 30% of all the household furnishings in their stores are made in China, then shipped by boat to the United States. As of Friday, new tariffs https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/new-round-tariffs-takes-bigger-bite-consumers-budget 714 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 10 May 2019 13:57:52 +0000 New Round Of Tariffs Takes A Bigger Bite Of Consumers' Budget Madelyn Beck For crop farmers, winter is the offseason. But that doesn’t mean they take the winter off. It’s meeting season — going to endless seminars or having discussions about better ways to farm — and planning season. Planning may seem like it would be a challenge given the trade uncertainties, including the tariff war with China. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/undeterred-trade-uncertainty-farmers-plan-spring-planting 653 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 08 Jan 2019 18:10:40 +0000 Undeterred By Trade Uncertainty, Farmers Plan For Spring Planting