If the United States and China have a trade war, American farmers could be the ones who take the biggest hit.
„The Chinese have made it clear that if the U. S. were to impose some kind of duties, … China would respond in some way and on exports to China,“ he said.
China is the second largest market for U. S. agricultural exports, according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. Of the $20.2 billion in farm exports to China in 2015, soybeans accounted for $10.5 billion.
And in retaliation for any U. S. tariffs on China, Beijing will take action against the soybean and corn industries, China’s state-backed Global Times said in an editorial after the U. S. presidential election. Rising tensions between the U. S. and China have many in the agriculture industry concerned.
„It’s all about the potential,“ said Brandon Kliethermes, an agricultural economist at IHS Markit in Missouri.
„You don’t want to irritate one of your largest buyers,“ he said, „and that’s got everybody on edge right now. “
The stakes are highest for growers of nuts such as almonds, which Chinese traditionally enjoy as snacks. The U. S. is the largest supplier of walnuts to China and the single largest almond supplier to the country, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said.
