China's Trade Commitments
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins insisted on CNBC’s Squawk Box that China will meet its commitment to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans this year.
Rollins was asked if China could make good on its tariff-reducing deal with just over a month remaining in the year …
ROLLINS … “They’ve already put in a purchase order. We’ve already started shipping soybeans their way, almost a million and a half metric tons. We have every indication they will continue to buy soybeans, sorghum, etc.”
But will it be 12 million metric tons, and will it happen by the end of the year? …
ROLLINS … “Every sign is their commitment remains true, that they will indeed buy or purchase 12 million metric tons, or put the order in. It doesn’t mean we’ll move 12 million metric tons by the end of December, but it means those orders will come in, according to their commitment.”
But Rollins admits there’s still a need to help farmers, and the extent of that aid will depend on the trade situation …
ROLLINS … “We are looking at the aid right now. We have always said it is to solve for, to mitigate anything under these new trade negotiations. Every day that changes, and that’s what we’re looking for, so we’ll have an announcement, probably in the next week or two, on what that’s going to look like.”
Hinting that better foreign buys could limit the extent of aid.
Rollins says farmers want markets, not a government check.
Though tariffs used as leverage to win markets have complicated that goal.
