U.S. corn producers could face EU tariffs

Mar 21, 2018

Tobacco, cranberries and orange juice could also be subject to import tariffs

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Another trade partner is considering the placement of tariffs on American ag commodities in response to President Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel imports.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union’s (EU) Trade Commissioner, is in Washington to meet with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to seek an exemption from the steel and aluminum tariffs.

If an exemption isn’t granted, American farmers could once again find themselves in the crosshairs of a trade war.

The EU, which imported US$11.5 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products in 2017, may place a 25 per cent tariff on U.S. corn imports, according to an EU document.

A majority of the EU’s corn imports from Brazil and Ukraine. About US$117.2 million worth of U.S. corn entered Europe in 2017, according to USDA figures.

The proposed EU tariffs on U.S. corn would, in part, be a way to show President Trump that he can’t bully his global trading partners.

“I regard the possible EU import duties on U.S. corn as symbolic,” Carsten Fritsch, a Commerzbank commodities analyst, told Reuters on Monday.

Other European commodities analysts have suggested that Europe could find other corn suppliers if necessary, according to Reuters.

More American ag commodities could also face European tariffs.

The 28-country block has indicated that it may levy 25 per cent import tariffs on American kidney beans, rice, peanut butter, cranberries, orange juice, bourbon, cigars, cigarettes and tobacco.

A noticeable omission from the EU’s list of products is soybeans.

Europe imports US$1.7 billion worth of soybeans from the U.S. These beans currently remain tariff-free.

Click here for more coverage of President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs and their potential impact on U.S. ag.

Farms.com has reached out to the National Corn Growers Association for comment on the proposed tariffs from the European Union.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.