Just one day after the U.S. and China signed a Phase One trade deal, the Senate passed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA). Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump One of the greatest trade deals ever made! Also good for China and our long term relationship. 250 Billion Dollars will be coming back to our Country, and we are […]
Financial Times writer James Politi reported on Wednesday that, “The US and China have signed an agreement to pause the trade war that has weighed on the global economy for nearly two years, while leaving in place tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports. “The so-called phase one deal signed at the White House on Wednesday offers […]
In earlier posts, we have looked at the growing role of trade in global and U.S. crop production. The trends are mixed at the crop-level, but across all major crops, global trade has clearly become more significant over the last decade. This left us wondering about the livestock sector. This week’s post considers the impact of trade […]
Last week, Financial Times writers Emiko Terazono, Andres Schipani and Jamie Smyth reported that, “China’s African swine fever epidemic has dramatically reshaped the global meat market and its trade patterns in the 18 months since the outbreak was first officially acknowledged. “The viral disease, which is deadly for pigs but does not affect humans, has reduced China’s pig herd by more […]
Fed cattle prices have increased dramatically in the last several weeks. In September, fed cattle prices for steers in Kansas averaged $101.23 per cwt. At the end of 2019, fed cattle prices were $122.00. This increase in fed cattle prices had a large impact on cattle finishing profitability in the fourth quarter of 2019. Moreover, […]
Lingling Wei reported in Friday’s Wall Street Journal that, “Chinese President Xi Jinping’s chief trade negotiator will travel to Washington early next week to sign a phase-one trade deal with the U.S., China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday, the first official confirmation by Beijing on the signing of an agreement that could help ease bilateral tensions. “The Chinese delegation, to be led […]
This is a presentation summary from the 2019 Illinois Farm Economics Summit (IFES) which occurred December 16-20, 2019. A complete collection of presentations including PowerPoint Slides (PPT) and printable summaries (PDF) are available here. Crops Crop prices continue adjusting to the uncertainty around 2019 production prospects and the current trade environment. Barring a resolution to the […]
The USDA’s December Hogs and Pigs report indicates that producers continue to expand, with the December 1 inventory of all hogs and pigs coming in at 77.338 million head, a record for this quarter and up 3 percent from a year ago. The U.S. hog industry has been expanding since mid-2014, with the annual breeding herd growth […]
For many of us, the new year is a time to reflect on the year (or decade) behind us and consider what may lie ahead of us. What will 2020 have in store? Well, that is a daunting – if not impossible – question to answer in January. However, that doesn’t mean we are completely helpless in thinking […]
Phase-One Trade Deal Set for January 15th Wall Street Journal writers Bob Davis, Andrew Restuccia and Lingling Wei reported on Tuesday that, “President Trump said he would sign the recently negotiated phase-one trade deal with China in Washington on Jan. 15—marking a formal truce in the U.S-China trade war—and would later travel to Beijing to negotiate a broader pact. “The […]