Trade

Republican and Democratic lawmakers criticized the Trump administration’s escalating tariff threats that are attracting retaliation on agricultural goods from China and other countries during a Senate Finance Committee hearing with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Answering repeated questions on Wednesday about whether the United States is in a trade war with China and other countries, Ross responded: “We’ve been in a trade war forever. But now, U.S. forces are coming to the ramparts.” Several senators expressed concerns about retaliation against the U.S. agricultural sector, while ... Read More

President Donald Trump announced today the United States is imposing tariffs on an additional $50 billion worth of goods from China. In a statement released Friday morning by the White House, the president said he is taking the action “in light of China’s theft of intellectual property and technology and its other unfair trade practices.” The announcement comes after a Section 301 investigation conducted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), in which it “found that China’s acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and ... Read More

It continues to be an up-and-down roller coaster ride for trade. A U.S. trade delegation returned from China and met with President Trump on June 5 on a reported offer from China to purchase up to $70 billion in American agricultural and energy products, as well as some manufactured goods, over the next year.  The U.S. delegation was led by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, and Gregg Doud, chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.  There were no reports on ... Read More

The White House on May 29 issued a two-page statement announcing the Trump administration’s intent to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of goods imported by the United States from China by mid- to late-June. The announcement occurred as Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was scheduled to depart for Beijing, China, on June 2 to resume high-level consultations with Chinese government officials on increasing purchases of U.S. agricultural and energy products. During a farm bill forum in Kansas on May 30, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue referred to Ross’s upcoming mission ... Read More

As a follow-up to initial “constructive” trade discussions with a Chinese delegation headed by Vice Premier Liu Hei that concluded on May 18 in Washington, the Trump administration is preparing for additional consultations in the near future in China on increasing that country’s imports of U.S. agricultural and other products. The exact timing of the resumption of such consultations still is under discussion. In a joint statement, the United States and China said they had reached a “consensus on taking effective measures to substantially decrease the U.S. trade deficit in goods with China.” ... Read More

China announced today that it is ending its anti-dumping investigation into imports of U.S. sorghum as high-level trade talks continue in Washington. China Vice Premier Liu He met with President Trump and a U.S. negotiating team led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday in the first of two days of talks.  There were reports – denied by China – that it offered a package of trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods designed to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China by $200 billion. A Chinese spokesperson was quoted as saying that while the report was ... Read More

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on May 17 said negotiators are “nowhere near close to a deal” to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but said the U.S. delegation will continue working with Mexico and Canada “to achieve needed breakthroughs” on intellectual property, dairy and agriculture, energy, labor and other issues, where Lighthizer said “gaping differences” remain. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., earlier had said Congress would need to be notified of a new deal by May 17 to give lawmakers time to approve it before next year. During a press briefing ... Read More

By Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media The Trump administration is mindful of protecting agriculture in its negotiations with China, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Senate appropriators on May 10. “We’re all well aware that it’s horribly unfair for one industry to bear the brunt of retaliation, in our efforts to help other parts of the economy,” Ross said. “So, we will do our level best to minimize the problem and to maximize the support we can provide.” Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other Trump administration officials spent time ... Read More

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue jointly announced this week that the United States on May 4 had submitted a counter-notification to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Committee on Agriculture citing “several areas of potential concern” with the information provided by India to the WTO on its market price supports for wheat and rice. The administration said the action represented the first-ever notification to the Committee on Agriculture under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture regarding another country’s price support measures. “The ... Read More