U.S. Farmers increasingly dependent on China for exports
The trade relationship between the U.S and China can be classified as complicated.
Nearly four years ago, President Trump ratcheted up pressure on China in the form of a Phase One trade deal.
This week, new data sheds light on the results of that action.
Peter Tubbs reports.
Transcript
It appears China may be on the road to less dependence on U.S. imports. Recent signals indicate that there is an increasing reliance by American farmers on the Chinese marketplace while the world’s number two economy has been steering away from U.S. goods.
A report released this week by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington D.C. think tank that advocates for increased global trade, shows that trade volumes between the world’s two largest economies are proceeding towards further decoupling.
According to the report, as the dollar value of American exports to China hit record levels in 2022, the underlying volume of goods was smaller in size. In 2009, 13 percent of American agricultural exports were destined for China. By last year, that percentage had risen to 19 percent. Over the same period, Chinese agricultural imports from the United States dropped from 27 percent to 18 percent as America lost market share to other nations.
The Peterson Institute report also indicated that China failed to meet its Phase One purchase agreements. The total value of imports last year were only slightly higher than 2017 levels, almost a year before the Trump Administration began a trade war. China’s purchase history since 2017 also lags behind trendline growth in American exports to the Middle Kingdom.
Both countries have largely maintained the heightened tariff levels established during the peak of the trade war that began in 2018.
For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs.