IARN — The Iowa Economic Development Authority recently hosted a trade webinar that provided updates on the China Phase One Trade Deal.
The webinar featured Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, US Meat Export Federation CEO Dan Halstrom, and US Soybean Export Council CEO Jim Sutter. The three panelists discussed the progress being made on agricultural exports as part of the Phase One agreement, and what we can expect heading into the fall harvest. Halstrom says meat exports to China have been on the rise since the beginning of the agreement.
“There’s two segments that show us being ahead of the Phase One goal,” Halstrom said. “One is livestock and meats – which is beef and pork – and the other one is poultry. In terms of new sales, there’s been a lot of business happen on the grains side since these were updated. Suffice to say that from a shipment standpoint through the first half of the year, the meat proteins have done well as compared to the China Phase One goals.”
Under the Phase One agreement, China agreed to purchase an additional $12.5 billion in agricultural products in 2020, and an additional $19.5 billion in agricultural products in 2021. The agreement lifted the ban on U.S. poultry products, including pet food, and increased the number of facilities approved to export animal protein, pet food and dairy products. It also included important intellectual property protections.
Secretary Naig says going forward, the US will need to continue monitoring these large commitments closely, as well as the continued impact of coronavirus. He also says the US will need to keep an eye on our complex relationship with China.
“I don’t know there will be a time when it’s not a complex relationship,” Naig said. “There are many issues from national security, technology, things that are aside from agriculture and food, but affect us all the same. We always have to watch that broader picture and put everything that we do into context. There’s always the threat of additional tariffs and what impact that could have.”
The Phase One agreement went into effect in February.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
