Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


US Farmers Suffer 'Body Blow' as China Slams Door on Farm Purchases

Reuters

   BEIJING - Chinese companies have stopped buying U.S. agricultural
   products, China's Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday, a blow to U.S.
   farmers who have already seen their exports slashed by the more than
   year-old trade war.

   China may impose additional tariffs on U.S. farm products bought
   shortly before the purchase ban took effect, China's Commerce Ministry
   said. China also let the yuan weaken past the key 7-per-dollar level on
   Monday for the first time in more than a decade.

   Before the trade war started, China bought $19.5 billion worth of farm
   goods in 2017, mainly soybeans, dairy, sorghum and pork. The trade war
   reduced those sales to $9.1 billion in 2018, according to the American
   Farm Bureau.

   China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement it hoped the United
   States would keep its promises and create the "necessary conditions"
   for bilateral cooperation.

   U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Beijing had not
   fulfilled a promise to buy large volumes of U.S. farm products and
   vowed to impose new tariffs on around $300 billion of Chinese goods,
   abruptly ending a truce in the Sino-U.S. trade war.

   Earlier, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported an official from
   China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as saying
   Trump's accusations were "groundless."

   China is the world's top buyer of soybeans, the most valuable U.S.
   export crop. The Trump administration has announced plans to spend up
   to $28 billion compensating U.S. farmers, a key Trump constituency, for
   lost income from trade disputes.

   American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall called the
   announcement "a body blow to thousands of farmers and ranchers who are
   already struggling to get by."

.