Canada Waivers for H-2A and Optimism over Goods to China

Canada Waivers for H-2A and Optimism over Goods to China

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**Canada’s government is exempting foreign nationals who have committed to working in agriculture from COVID-19 travel bans.

thepacker.com reports, the March 20th decision came after the Canadian Produce Marketing Association joined 20 other groups asking the prime minister to allow foreign ag workers to enter the country for seasonal work.

Canada relies on about 60,000 international farm workers, and estimates about 10,000 in the country.

https://www.thepacker.com/article/cpma-supports-covid-19-travel-exemption-farm-workers?mkt/

**The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has updated its Exports for China to reflect expanded access for U.S. beef and pork as negotiated in the U.S.-China “Phase One” trade agreement.

According to U.S. Meat Export Federation senior vice president Joel Haggard, access for U.S. beef has expanded significantly and many more U.S. facilities are now eligible to export beef there.

Haggard says China is also allowing importers to apply for relief from retaliatory tariffs on U.S. beef.

**Optimism sprouted in the market as rumors, then confirmation, of China buying more U.S. ag goods.

According to agweb.com, USDA reported China purchased 756,000 tons of corn and 756,000 metric tons of wheat for delivery in the 2019/2020 marketing year and 340,000 tons of hard red winter wheat for 2020/2021 marketing year.

While USDA did confirm the purchases, University of Missouri economist Seth Meyer says even rumors were enough to move the markets into the green a day later.

https://www.agweb.com/article/chinese-buys-sprout-optimism-uncertainty-still-grasps-ag-markets?mkt/

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