The war in Ukraine is taking a toll on the U.S. farm economy.
The Black Sea region is a major grains exporter, including corn and wheat. A Washington state agriculture economist says there is no way around it, and that the war will have an immediate impact on farmers this year, and possibly many years to come. There is a lingering question that will greatly impact trade - where does China stand in all of this?
“Do they tend to side with Russia and say Russia has a right to recognize these states that are claiming independence because it might be more consistent with the way China thinks bout Taiwan and Hong Kong? Or do they tend to be more western thinking in the sense they don’t believe that anybody has much to gain from a larger scale conflict there?”
China is expected to drop back to pre-trade war levels, purchasing only 5% of U.S. wheat this year. If china aligns more with Russia versus Nato, economists believe the purchases will be smaller.
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