05/07/2025 Meet Me in Switzerland

On the Grains:
There have been significant developments in the China/US tariff back and forth as they both agreed to meet in Switzerland on Thursday. Treasury Secretary and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are scheduled to meet with Beijing’s delegation. Secretary Bessent stressed that these are preliminary talks and that we are a long way from a deal, let alone a deal China performs on. I apologize for my glass being half empty regarding China, after Trump 1.0. I don’t believe China upholds its portion of any agreement. Again, I worked at the export desk where a “great meeting” occurred just one week before, and we missed export sales by $1 per MMT. Maybe times are different, and this deal will have teeth, yet I remain cautious. China has cut its key rates and reserve ratios to aid its economy, which has been hit by tariffs. China has stated, “The US abuse of tariffs has severely disrupted global economic and trade orders.” It’s hard to take any statement from them about abuse seriously, they have abused their people, land, and other countries in the Belt and Road Initiative.