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China less reliant on U.S. ag since last trade war

The president of Global AgriTrends says the escalating tariff dispute between the U.S. and China is going to hurt both countries.

Brett Stuart tells Brownfield the countries’ economies are intertwined.  

“245% Tariffs on the biggest export market for China is untenable.”  He says, “It is not going to work for their country. It’s not going to work for their economy. I can assure you the pain on their end will be far more severe than the pain on our end.”

However, Stuart says China has diversified its ag import suppliers over the past decade.

“Back around 2010, they were buying 25% of their ag imports from America.”  He says, “The last year of data they bought 12%. They’ve approved plants all over the world for all different commodities.”

He says a prolonged trade dispute likely leads to further loss of Chinese market share for U.S. producers.

“The first Trump administration ended up with 25% retaliation tariffs on U.S. pork that still exist today.”  He says, “We’re also seeing that shift with the new China deal last year on corn from Brazil.  They’ve expanded their grain imports from South America, and that will continue.”

Stuart says he expects negotiations of a new trade deal with China to pick up as both countries begin to feel impacts from the tariffs.

AUDIO: Brett Stuart – Global AgriTrends