Sino-US trade deal won’t harm farmers
Editor’s note: China may increase the import of US agricultural products after several rounds of talks with the United States. If China does import more US agricultural products, what will be the impact on China’s agricultural sector and how will it affect Chinese farmers? Two experts share their views with China Daily’s Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:
More US farm products will ease pressure on land
Unlike industrial production, crops and poultry need a relatively long time to bring to the market. And since they are perishable goods, producers have to balance their supply with the existing demand. So China’s decision will not lead to US agricultural products flooding the domestic market and, therefore, not have a significant impact on China’s farming industry in the short term.
China has strictly controlled the import of staples such as rice, wheat and corn, in order to ensure self-sufficiency in food production, which is necessary for food security.
Since the measures to include the scattered small-scale farmers in industrial operation have resulted in environmental pollution and food insecurity, increasing import of US farm products such as meat, eggs and milk will not only ease the pressure on China’s farmland and water bodies, but also meet the people’s increasing demand for better quality food.
China and the United States have chosen to settle the trade dispute by increasing US exports to China, instead of reducing Chinese exports to the US, which is a step in the right direction to resolve their trade dispute in the long run.
Still, to expand their market, US exporters need to localize their agricultural products to cater to the taste of Chinese consumers while observing China’s laws, and the US administration should stop using trade as a weapon against its trading partners because it has mostly failed to resolve differences.
Food security will be ensured by all means
Although the details of the agreement are not yet known, China has made it clear it will import only what it needs to meet its domestic demand. Thus, the US can increase its share in China’s market only by supplying high-quality products that Chinese consumers need.
Chinese farmers usually find themselves at a disadvantage because many of them are engaged in small-scale farming compared with developed modern farming in the West. So China’s agricultural sector could face pressure if China increases the import of US farm products. But that doesn’t mean China will not benefit from the new agreement.
China is a vast country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, but it has relatively limited cultivable land. Therefore, an increase in agricultural imports will help it better protect its cultivable land and reduce food prices.
Nevertheless, to improve Chinese farmers’ livelihoods and productivity, the government has to take more favorable measures just like most governments across the world do.
China has already achieved self-sufficiency in food production, and will always accord priority to food security and build up its resilience against natural disasters and climate change.
And since it is vitally important to ensure there is always enough cultivable land to feed the nation, more attention should be paid to food security and safety. In fact, China has diversified its import channels and improved its grain silos to guarantee regular supply of food products.
As US President Donald Trump is trying to increase the export of farm products to win the support of voters in the leading agricultural states in the US midterm election, China, too, can use the agreement to adjust the structure of its agricultural output and strike the right balance between the import and export of agricultural products.