Concern Mounts U.S. Farm Belt as China Steadily Shifts Agriculture Buys to Countries in the Global South

Sources: General Administration of Customs of China, Bloomberg calculations Note: 2024 figures are annualized estimates based on Jan-Oct data. Western countries include the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and EU.

On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Des Moines Register, the leading newspaper in the U.S. farm state of Iowa, published a story about how the state’s farmers are anxious over the repercussions of yet another trade war with China

Those farmers are right to be concerned because they lost billions of dollars when China slashed purchases of corn, soy, pork, and other commodities in retaliation against U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

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by Eric Olander

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