Farmers buoyed but cautious as China resumes buying soybeans
Posted December 14, 2018 10:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BISMARCK, N.D. — The resumption of soybean sales to China is encouraging to American farmers who’ve seen the value of their crop plummet amid a trade war with the world’s second-largest economy.
But producers see it only as a small step toward normalcy as they continue monitoring the unsettled trade relations between the countries and call for more federal aid.
Private exporters have reported sales of 1.43 million metric tons of soybeans to China less than two weeks after the Trump administration reached a three-month truce in the trade war.
The American Soybean Association says it’s positive news but didn’t significantly boost prices and farmers need more help.
Both the association and the National Farmers Union are pushing for more federal aid through a $12 billion federal program created to compensate producers for trade-related losses.
Blake Nicholson, The Associated Press
