Latest News From China

Reports say China has purchased more than 20 cargoes of feed grain in the past two weeks. Where is China buying from, and what's behind the sudden surge?

Experts are watching global dynamics to understand the input market’s longer-term outlook in the U.S. Among their top concerns are geopolitics, weather and low supply.

Just this week, China’s largest real estate firm was told it must liquidate after trying to restructure for two years. Some experts say the country is teetering on a recession.

Steve Cubbage explores the true intentions behind foreign land ownership, and if it could be planting seeds of risk for our food security and national security.

In October 2023, Arkansas became the first state to ban foreign-owned farmland. More states look to adopt similar laws, but one policy expert says the issue is rooted in politics and warns of unintended consequences.

From the election to world trade, as well as geopolitical factors that have the potential to shape agriculture in 2024, the December Ag Economists' Monthly Monitor shows the possibility of several economic surprises.

Chinese importers bought around 10 cargoes of soybeans, or about 600,000 metric tons, for shipment from Gulf Coast and Pacific Northwest export terminals between December and March.

China's Commerce minister expressed concerns over trade and tech restrictions to U.S. Senate Majority Leader this week. That's as the U.S. Commerce Department added 42 more Chinese companies to the export blacklist.

John Phipps says the rapid reduction in farmer numbers is a result of government efforts to raise money, since the government owns the land, and achieve modest economies of scale for added productivity.

Roughly 37.6 million acres of U.S. ag land is foreign owned, according to USDA. However, select purchases of U.S. land could come to an end following a Senate vote this week.

The July Ag Economists' Monthly Monitor showed several key changes from June including a bigger cut to corn and soybean yields, a drop in corn and soybean prices and more bullish cattle and hog prices.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) introduced an act to prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting U.S. land near security sites, and would push a review of current ownership in these areas.

This slump, deeper than May's 7.5% drop, represents the largest decline since February 2020.

Beijing on Monday announced export controls on gallium and germanium. Now the Biden administration is set to restrict Chinese companies’ access to U.S. cloud-computing services that use AI chips.

The U.S. and China have reportedly made “progress” and agreed to stabilize their relationship, but no major breakthroughs were outlined during the two-day meeting between U.S. and China high-ranking officials.

China's exports to Russia reached a record high in April, amounting to $9.6 billion.

The Office of Investment Security proposed a rule on Friday that would require foreign entities to garner U.S. government approval before they are able to purchase land within 100 miles of eight military bases.

The Missouri Senate on Wednesday backed a plan to amend the state's foreign land ownership threshold. The bill also includes a provision that would limit foreign countries from acquiring farmland in Missouri by Sept. 1.

Former President Donald Trump placed tariffs on more than $300 billion in Chinese goods during his presidency, raising costs for American companies, according to the ITC.

Russia badly needs to replace expended and outdated Soviet arms while China needs Russian energy. That is compelling math. This is bad news not just for the heroic people of Ukraine, but Europe and the US.

"In this current situation, the traditional approach to free trade agreements — which isn't just tariff cuts, but that they do tariff cuts on a fully comprehensive basis — isn't what we need right now,” Tai says.

Much ink and many pixels have been wasted, in my opinion, on rants about people other than U.S. farmers owning farmland. Surprisingly, critics are just as hard on wealthy Americans as foreigners.

Officials in China now say the population sits at 1.4 billion, which came as a surprise to many economists and market analysts. The news draws concerns about what it means for demand both short- and long-term.

China, the top food importer on the planet and biggest buyer in history, is entangled in a potentially devastating population crash and the effect could be massive for U.S. agriculture.

If the nation’s debt hits $31.4 trillion—it’s on track to do so by this Thurs.—the Treasury will need to take “extraordinary measures” to help pay the government's operations and ward off a historic default.

China's state-owned grains trader COFCO said a new joint venture it has set up with state stockpiler Sinograin to manage the country’s grain reserves will officially begin operations next month.

Export tariffs on aluminum and aluminum alloys will be raised. The current import tariff will stay on seven types of coal until March 31, with tariffs adopted for most favored nations from April 1.

“There is a problem with people thinking the pullback of Covid-zero measures is equivalent to the economy reopening, which it is not." says Leland Miller, CEO of research firm China Beige Book.

The top official in charge of China’s COVID-19 response told health officials Wednesday that the country faced a “new stage and mission” in pandemic controls.

China moved to close parks, malls and museums on Tues. as COVID-19 cases hit near-record levels. Lockdowns follow reports that, days before COP27, Xi sent policy and business advisers to New York to meet U.S. executives.

"We need to find the right direction for the bilateral relationship going forward and elevate the relationship," Xi said, while Biden stressed that the two countries can compete without it turning into a conflict.

Chinese leaders are considering steps toward reopening after nearly three years of tough pandemic restrictions. The news comes as China's imports and exports slow on rising risks of a global recession.

“In the last 2,500 years, every Chinese government that has fallen, has fallen over food,” says Kuehl, Armada chief economist. “They need those import markets—be it from the U.S, Canada, Brazil or Australia."

Global inflation will likely decrease to 6.5% in 2023 and to 4.1% by 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast.

Have the Pacific Coast port bottleneck issues been resolved, or moved somewhere else? The East Coast may now be carrying the burden.

Do tariffs fuel inflation? John Phipps's Customer Support segment explains why economists have struggled to come up with estimates of economic effects due to lingering COVID influence on world business.

Do tariffs fuel inflation? John Phipps's Customer Support segment explains why economists have struggled to come up with estimates of economic effects due to lingering COVID influence on world business.

Fufeng Group recently bought 300 acres of land in North Dakota and the proximity to a U.S. military base has many concerned. But this isn’t the first time questions have been raised about China’s stake in the U.S.

Shanghai offered some tax rebates for companies and allowed all manufacturers to resume operations from June as authorities rolled out policies to revitalize an economy impacted by Covid-19 lockdowns.

President Biden spent last weekend in Tokyo, Japan. During the visit, Biden announced a dozen Indo-Pacific countries will join the U.S. in a “sweeping” economic initiative, primarily focused on countering China.

Pro Farmer's Jim Wiesemeyer is told U.S. lawmakers want Chinese import tariffs knocked down to minimize inflationary pressure. USTR Katherine Tai says tariff adjustments aren't likely, but are on the table.

While China grapples with choosing which production lines to reopen, the food shortage conversation looks to ramp up.

China contains the largest population of any country in the world. All those mouths drive demand across the globe and for your farm’s products.

We could be headed for a volatile year – or more – in both ag commodities and energy. Here are just a few reasons for strong prices.

With the U.S. on the back end of COVID-19 and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine unraveling, USTR Katherine Tai says her office is currently focused on three themes: resilience, sustainability and competition.

Rep. Garamendi says the USDA partnership with the Port of Oakland “isn’t going to solve the problem” because shippers deliver product to the U.S. and leave ports with empty containers.

Mark Mills, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, recently joined Chip Flory on AgriTalk to talk about the logistics and supply chain challenges ahead for electric vehicles.

On Monday the People’s Bank of China also announced a 0.1 percentage point cut to two of its key policy rates. It acted after GDP grew by more than 8% in 2021, but slowed down in the fourth quarter.

AgriTalk Host Chip Flory and Pro Farmer policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer discuss plans Congress will probably have these last weeks of 2021, including the debt ceiling and the Build Back Better plan in the Senate.

One result of the pandemic was a spike in savings rates. In the U.S. last April, Americans collectively saved a record 30% of their income. John Phipps looks at China's savings rate and what it's meant for exports.