US Exporting Soybeans To China At Record Rates

As China continues to produce more products and grow its economy the country must also deal with a larger, more hungry population and for that reason buyers have been gobbling up US soybeans.

According to a recent report US exports of soybeans have increased by 50% since 2008. China favors soybeans over feed grain because it’s cheaper to export and can still be used to bulk up cattle and poultry for mass consumption.

According to the Washington Post the countries diet has become more meat heavy which in turn has lead to the need for new imports.

It’s not just soybeans gaining favor in the country, dairy products, pork, alcohol and snack foods have also led to increased exports while the nut industry has grown so much that it has helped the struggling pecan industry gain a new footing.

Company’s are also importing an increasing number of cars and trash in order to pull copper and aluminum from those products while medicine imports remain in higher demand.

In the meantime experts say that despite an increase geared toward imports the country is still highly controlled. According to the president of the US-China Business Council:

“The China market should probably be even bigger than it is… there are many market access barriers that make the market less than it should be.”

While China is buying more products from the United States the US trade deficit with China last year continued to rise. In 2011 our deficit was up by $22 billion to $295 billion.

Food exports is one of the few areas that the US actually has a trade surplus with China.

Do you think our future US earnings with China depend on our ability to provide the country with agricultural needs?