Traveling for Trade: Rollins seeks new global trade markets for U.S. crops

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins will travel to Europe and Asia to seek new trade partnerships for U.S. crops after China reduced imports due to tariffs.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins will be on the road over the next few weeks. She will first stop in the United Kingdom, searching for additional new markets for U.S. crops. Then she will travel to Japan to follow up on President Donald Trump‘s latest trade deal, which is worth half a trillion dollars.

———

Rollins Makes the Most of New Trade Deal with Japan

During an exclusive interview with RFD-TV News, Secretary Rollins said she’s hoping this will make up for Trump’s tariff agenda, which led to a strained trade relationship with China, previously one of the top importers of U.S. agricultural products.

“Eight billion [dollars] a year in commitment from Japan to bring in more soybeans, corn, ethanol, et cetera — and that’s just a massive number that’s going to make a huge difference,” Rollins told RFD-TV on Friday. “Of course, we’ve talked a lot about China being our biggest buyer in some of these commodities, and certainly we need China, especially for soybeans and others, right now. But we have to look to other areas of the world. The new trade deal with Japan includes $550 billion in projects that the U.S. will select.

The U.S. will put a baseline 15% tariff on all Japanese imports, with sector-specific duties on goods like vehicles. It also gives a big boost to row crops like corn and soybeans, with Japan agreeing to ramp up purchases of those U.S. crops.

Related Stories
Global nitrogen and phosphate prices remain high despite improved supply fundamentals, with limited Chinese exports and stronger fall applications tightening availability.
Record output, larger stocks, and softer exports point to a well-supplied domestic ethanol market as harvest progresses.
The Court may limit emergency tariff powers, complicating a key bargaining tool; ag could see shifts in input costs and export dynamics as China, Brazil, and India talks evolve.
RFD-TV expert Roger McEowen explains why a “skinny” Farm Bill is likely in the future, but its scope may change due to provisions contained in the Big, Beautiful Bill.
U.S. sugar producers and processors should brace for price pressure and challenging export logistics with global sugar supply ramping up — driven by Brazil, India, and Thailand — especially at the raw processing level.
David Klein with the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) shares an end-of-harvest update and a peek at the farmland market in Central Illinois.
Host of RealAg Radio Shaun Haney discusses how the proposed reductions to agriculture programs in Canada’s new budget could affect research and support programs that farmers need.
The Farm Bureau urges trade enforcement, biofuel growth, fair input pricing, and pro-farmer policy reforms to restore long-term certainty.
A SCOTUS ruling on Trump’s tariffs could have long-term implications on the authority of future administrations to control U.S. trade policy, according to RFD-TV legal expert Roger McEowen.