ASA President Ragland: Trade Wars with China Have ‘Severely Constrained’ US Soybean Exports

Earlier this week, President Trump announced a 90-day pause in the trade war with China that brought U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports down to 30 percent and China’s tariffs on U.S. products down to 10 percent. However, one of America’s ag leaders told lawmakers that trade wars with China may have a long-term negative impact on our soybean farmers.

“With China, we’ve been working there since 1982 to establish that relationship—and then with the stroke of a pen, we can damage that severely,” said Caleb Ragland, President of the American Soybean Association (ASA). He’s also a corn and soybean producer based in Magnolia, Kentucky.

On Wednesday, Ragland testified before the Senate Finance Committee about the impacts of not just the recent trade war with China, but the one that took place between the U.S. and China in 2018 during President Trump’s first term in office.

“Before the first trade war, one-in-three rows of soybeans from the U.S. went to China. Last year, it was one row out of four,” according to Ragland. “We are struggling already, and a trade war adds severe pain to the farmers—not just for soybeans. Exports are over half of our total production. We must have them. We don’t need to give our customers an excuse to go buy their soybeans from Brazil.”

Ragland says that Brazil has “unlimited opportunity” overtake the U.S. in soybean production.

“Approximately 90 million acres are grown in soybeans year-in and year-out in the U.S. However, Brazil right now has the potential to add up to 270 million more acres that is in pasture right now. If we give excuses for our customers to look elsewhere, they will—and they have,” said Ragland.

He added that the trade wars with China have only been pushing the Chinese to purchase more of their soybeans from Brazil.

“China has invested significantly in infrastructure in Brazil to help them get their product to market,” said Ragland. “Right now, we have better infrastructure, but they’re gaining on us. This is very concerning for our soybean farmers and our future.”

Soybeans are the largest ag export in the U.S. with 54 percent of the total U.S. soybean sales going to China in the last marketing year.

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