Brazil is redoubling efforts to position its agricultural exports to China as competitive alternatives to products from the United States as Washington ramps up its trade war against Beijing.
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China has bought the South American country’s soybeans for decades, with demand surging from Asia’s largest economy, but senior government officials and industry said they were looking for long-term commitments from Beijing before they expanded production.
Similar commitments would also be needed for Brazil to export a wider array of staple grains to China.
These include maize and sorghum – crops that US farmers have long dominated in terms of global exports. But this advantage could wane in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tariff orders and threats aimed at nearly all of his country’s trading partners.
Brazil has already made some progress, receiving approval in November to export maize and sorghum to China, as part of agreements signed between President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
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Since then, Brazil’s agriculture ministry had “actively encouraged farmers to consider expanding production”, according to a senior cabinet official.