A crane discharges the peas imported from Canada in the area of the port of Laizhou of the port of Yantai in Yantai, China, February 28, 2025.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty images
The clock is marking the trade agreements that the United States will need with many nations, especially China, to avoid what President Donald Trump’s treasure, Scott Besent, has described as an unsustainable tariff war. But in the agricultural sector of the United States, the damage has already been done and the economic crisis has already begun.
American agriculture exhibitors say that the global reaction of Trump’s tariffs is punishing them, especially through a decrease in the Chinese purchase of American agricultural products, which leads to export orders and canceled layoffs.
Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agricultural Transportation Coalition, or AGTC, a leading export trade group for farmers, told CNBC The number of purchases canceled of American agricultural products should not be described as about a crisis. “It’s already a complete crisis,” he said.
The data published by the US Department of Agriculture. The day of Thorday revealed that China made its greatest cancellation of pork orders since 2020, stopping a shipment or 12,000 tons of pork.
AGTC said its members are already feeling “massive” financial losses as a result of the commercial war, based on the reports it receives from the member companies.
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Meanwhile, said the exporter, 9,000 metric tons of the product are in the water to China, which is expected to arrive on May 13 and face the threat of an expensive detour to the Chinese adequate warehouses or other countries, as Chinese buyers load and leave it.
A grass seed exporter told AGTC that he received two weeks notice that Chinese clients were canceling eight charges even though the ships were already being reserved.
In a recent meeting of interested parties at the headquarters of the Port of Oakland with respect to the tariff impacts, the executive director of the port of Oakland, Kristi McKenney, warned that a recession induced by the rate in the load volume of the port, either by the slow import, the export export stability and the economic health of the region.
McKenney cited retaliation rates on American agricultural products, as well as manufactured goods; Both are essential exports that move through Oakland. Exports include almonds, beef, pork, dairy and recycled materials, much of which is intended for Asia. China is located as the main import partner of the port and the third export partner, which represents 29% of Oakland’s total commercial volume.
Unlike many US ports that are inclined to imports, Oakland is unique to maintain a balance of about 50/50 imports and exports. That leaves Oakland worried that the retaliation tariffs direct their main export-Japan, Taiwan, China and South Korea destinations, and could significantly erode the California market share for perishable and high value products.
The Port of Oakland is the refrigerated export door number 1 in the USA., And almost all the contained load that moves through the north of California crosses the port of Oakland.
“Many local work of the Union defend themselves in the solid port shipping operations, including docks workers, truck operators and warehouse workers,” said representative Lateefah Simon, D-Calif. “Support the intelligent commercial policies that raise workers and lower costs for Oakland working families, not an illogical and retaliation commercial war.”
Agricultural exhibitors warned that they are not other markets that can quickly replace China’s demand and absorb volume, and that alreamy affects prices.
“We have diverted employees and production to another production (less profitable) and drastically slowed down the purchase of independent vendors (registrars, truck drivers, sawmills),” a wood exporter informed AGTC. Some products have already decreased 20% in the market value, the exporter reported, which said it will influence inventory planning and future investments.
“The US market was stable and improved, but now flooded with the inventory of the old products of China,” said the wood exporter.
An exposure of fodder such as hay and straw is a big business for American farms that supply livestock operations abroad reported 68 blank navigations after Trump announced new rates on April 2. He said that this limits her capacity for exports, she forage forage ships are fodder fodder ships, in US ports.
“The concern is that the space of the ship that remains will be the most exensive/most premium services that our product cannot absorb the sale with losses. Being an element of high volume and low value, we cannot cling to the OCAN load,” Fortage Freight.
There has been an acute deccline in the traffic of ships from China to the United States, 22.15% of week a week and 44% year until April 14, according to the oceanic reserves of Global Biscay.
“What we have seen in the last two weeks is a continuous correction in the reserve of the demand for US imports, especially China’s US imports,” said Ben Tracy, vice president of Vizion Strategic Business Development. “Now we are seeing this translation into a fall in the exits too.”
A hay exporter in the Washington center that sends a large amount of its crop production to Hong Kong and Continental China was tolerated to most exports sent in the last two weeks to Japan, Dubai, Taiwan and some Chinese ports. These changes reached a cost for the company, which touched the AGTC that “it is not sustainable, no one can replace all the volume that China buys.”
The hay exporter said that he immediately ended all orders in the process and has begun layoffs.
“We had to adjust our employee count in 12 people. This represents a quarter of our total employees,” he wrote. The company said that its hope has been communicated with customers and employees “the hurried and reckless decision making at the top of our country will be reversed, relieving the deep problems we face at this time.”
In addition to the reaction of the rate, agriculture faces another imminent financial challenge with the measures of the recently announced ships approved by the US trade representative, with vessels made by Chinese that call the US ports. UU. They begin in the most thane $ rates.
Bulk agriculture was carved in the port rates imposed under the Ustule, but agriculture sent in containers is not exempt from rates. Friedmann said that an exemption is essential because the most valuable agricultural exports are sent in containers, not in bulk.
Container exports include refrigerated beef, pork, corral birds, fruits, vegetables, dairy and processed foods such as fried potatoes. Cotton, nuts, dry dairy, wood, paper, soy for human consumption and fodder, such as hay and alfalfa, are also sent in containers. “The efforts to exempt all exports from agriculture, including agriculture in containers, continue,” Friedmann said.
According to the US commercial data, the participation of American agriculture in containers is approximately 25% per volume and almost 55% per value.
The USTR did not respond to a CNBC request for comments on tariff exemptions for container agriculture.
“Much of our future is in the hands of so few,” he wrote a hay exporter to AGTC. “We beg that a few analyze a lot of time to what can be done to keep shipments flowing while the commercial imbalance is filtered and the different perceive.”
