Trade Relations

This year should bring more certainty to U.S. trade relations with the rest of the world. The House of Representatives has passed the revised agreement with Canada and Mexico (USMCA) and the Senate is expected to pass it soon.

The implementation of the new agreement with Japan will provide competitive access to a large customer of beef and corn. And, President Trump is expected to sign a Phase One trade deal with China, where it has been reported China has agreed to purchase $40-50 billion in U.S. agricultural goods. All these developments bode well for U.S. agricultural trade in 2020. One trade negative could be rising tensions with Europe over subsidies to aircraft manufacturers. Both the U.S. and Europe have threatened tariffs over the issue, including tariffs on agricultural products.