EU Imports of U.S. Soy and Farm-Aid Payments in September
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**The European Court of Justice rules that CRISPR crops and other gene-edited foods must be treated as classic transgenic GMOs, putting the EU at sharp odds with the U.S. over the future of biotechnology.
According to Agrimarketing.com, the ruling will force gene-edited plants to go through a regulatory process that typically costs about $35 million, meaning only large companies will be able to afford the regulations.
U.S. regulators have taken the position gene-edited crops don't pose a problem because they involve no "foreign" genes, and are essentially genetically identical to crops developed through traditional cross-breeding.
https://www.agrimarketing.com/s/118487
**EU soybean imports from the U.S. almost quadrupled early in the new marketing year, the European Union reports, a week after it struck a deal with President Trump to avert a trade war, as buyers responded to a sharp drop in prices.
Agriculture.com reports, EU officials say the collation of new bi-monthly import data showing the rise was "the first concrete follow-up to the EU-U.S. joint statement agreed in Washington between Commission President Juncker and U.S. President Trump".
https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/eu-touts-jump-in-soybean-imports-from-us
**U.S. farmers could receive cash payments from a planned $12 billion aid package as soon as late September, but Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue who warns the program will not make tariff-hit farmers whole.
Perdue tells agriculture.com the plan would include between $7 and $8 billion in direct cash relief.
U.S. growers are expected to take an $11 billion hit due to retaliatory tariffs.
https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/rpt-update-3-us-says-farmers-could-get-cash-aid-by-oct-but-will-not-be-made-whole