Saturday, August 18, 2018

Zero Hedge — Russia Offers 2.5 Million Acres Of Farmland To China, Amid Worsening Trade War


US farmers, lots of them in the State of Iowa, are not happy about losing the Chinese market, fearing it not come back once China substitutes.

This article suggests their fear is justified.
Earlier this week, Russia offered to bail out China from the trade war with Washington. Moscow offered 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of arable land available to Chinese farmers to meet its large-scale demand for soybeans — and of course, prevent a massive soybean shortage that would lead to political/social upheavals across the country.
Maybe, the US trade war on China should be interpreted as a piece in a much larger chessboard: A war on Eurasia integration, or the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.
This will just speed up development of alternatives to the US market for sanctioned countries like China, Russia, and Iran, each of which has resources of interest to the others in achieving independence from the US and its vassals. India is also paying close attention.

Zero Hedge
Russia Offers 2.5 Million Acres Of Farmland To China, Amid Worsening Trade War
Tyler Durden

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I see an economic collapse happening fairly soon as a result of the Trump tariff wars. Current highly linked global supply chains will be disrupted. US industries that rely upon that supply chain will suffer, and wages will decline, and inflation should rise fairly rapidly, as it did with the OPEC oil embargo, and later the Iran oil crisis. In face of inflation, the FED will do absolutely the wrong thing as it did in the late 70’s – raise the interest rates. This will put a further damper on the economy. Then even a small adverse event will set the dominoes crashing as it did in 2008-2009 crash. Except, this time it will be much worse, as the real goods supply will be affected, and not just the Financial sector.

Tom Hickey said...

Unknown unknowns and knock-on effects make the kind of shotgun approach that DJT and his advisers are taking highly uncertain.

If the markets and business planners get a whiff of this anything could happen.

Not that it will, but it's not a long shot either.

Matt Franko said...

“Between March 23 and July 16, the U.S. collected $1.4 billion from levies on foreign imports of steel and aluminum”

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/13/us-reaps-more-than-1point4-billion-from-steel-aluminum-tariffs-report.html

Tom Hickey said...

“Between March 23 and July 16, the U.S. collected $1.4 billion from levies on foreign imports of steel and aluminum”

Because the US government needs the $?

Matt Franko said...

It might as well be zero Tom... it’s a non issue..

Matt Franko said...

All the “tariff!” shorts have to be broke soon.. . . look at the rally into the close Friday....

Noah Way said...

I'm betting on cascade failure leading to economic collapse and massive civil unrest and civil war. The real question is whether the various groups within the US have been so marginalized and turned against each other will unite to face the common enemy. Another bank bailout might just be enough to accomplish that.

But it's not going to happen of course because Wall St. is booming.

Franko is materially competent in idiocy.

Tom Hickey said...

It might as well be zero Tom... it’s a non issue..

Comparable to debt phobia and deficit hysteria. It's obsessing over ex post accounting phenomena rather than focusing on real resources and the opportunities and constraints this involves.

More moronism.