Statewide Iowa — (RI) — The impact of President Trump’s announced soybean deal with the European Union is unclear. U.S. soybeans are already sold in Europe and China’s market for soybeans is far larger than the European Union’s.
Iowa farmer Ray Gaesser is past president of the American Soybean Association.
Soybean prices are down 20 percent from March when the U.S. trade disputes with China started to escalate.
Another factor, according to Gaesser, is that the global supply of soybeans is down because of a drought in Argentina.
But some European countries have labeled American soybeans as “genetically modified” and refuse to purchase U.S.-grown beans. Gaesser says he hopes Trump Administration negotiations with the European Union will resolve those conflicts, erase all tariffs and make the European market a larger sales option for U.S. soybeans.
