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AFBF says China needs to accelerate U.S. ag buys

An American Farm Bureau economist says with all eyes on the phase one trade deal with China, that country will need to accelerate its U.S. ag purchases. John Newton says USDA projected China to import 14.5 billion of U.S. ag goods this fiscal year which ends in September and they’ve bought about 7 billion so far which is on pace for 10 or 11 billion.

“They did report that their first quarter purchases of U.S. ag products were around $5-Billion, up about 110% from last year.”

Newton says it’s reasonable to get to the $14.5 but the phase one commitment is for $40 billion which includes insurance and freight.

“Don’t look at $40 Billion from our side, look at $40 Billion from there side which means they take into consideration what they have to pay to get it there and what they’ve got to pay to insure the cargo.”

China has taken positive steps toward fulfilling those purchases but Newton says the world is in a pretty tough situation with COVID-19. He says Farm Bureau is pushing for up to 50-Billion dollars of Commodity Credit Corporation funds for agriculture in the next stimulus bill.

^^ Interview with John Newton ^^

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