U.S. farm sector stockpiles Chinese chemicals before scheduled tariffs

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS NOVEMBER 29, 2018 / 7:09 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

U.S. farm sector stockpiles Chinese chemicals before scheduled tariffs

Rod Nickel
7 MIN READ

(Reuters) - U.S. agriculture suppliers are stockpiling the Chinese chemicals that farmers need to kill crop pests and boost yields - before tariffs on them more than double on Jan. 1.

The additional tariffs, threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump, are part of an eight-month trade war between the United States and China affecting $250 billion worth of Chinese products and $113 billion in U.S. goods.

The duties could disrupt supply lines for U.S. companies that sell chemicals and fertilizers, part of a $28-billion U.S. farm chemical industry. The sector relies on Chinese imports for 40 percent of the ingredients and materials needed to make crop chemicals, according to consultancy Informa.

Nutrien Ltd (NTR.TO) - the biggest U.S. retailer of farm supplies - is stockpiling enough chemicals to last into the busy 2019 planting season, the company said in a statement. Nutrien is carrying $300 million more in chemical inventory than it had a year earlier.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-chemicals/u-s-farm-sector-stockpiles-chinese-chemicals-before-scheduled-tariffs-idUSKCN1NY1HJ

[wasupaloopa]

1. The fields here in CA where I live are covered with

chemicals quite a few times a year.

First they use chemicals to kill every living plant leaving a baron field then they fertilize it and plant.

Then they pesticide it while plants grow.

Then they harvest and kill every living plant again.

The cycle goes on year after year. More than once a year depending on what is grown.

So China won’t buy what we grow and it will be too costly to use chemicals yet trump is MAGA.