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| From: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/09/us-trade-delegation-wrapping-up-meet...
Ted McKinney, U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, addressed the negotiations earlier in the day to reporters at the delegation's hotel, saying "I think they went just fine."
"It's been a good one for us," he said without elaborating.
Originally scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, the negotiations were extended by a day amid signs of progress on issues including purchases of U.S. farm and energy commodities and increased access to China's markets.
On the other hand, "However, people familiar with the talks told Reuters on Tuesday that the two sides were further apart on Chinese structural reforms that the Trump administration is demanding in order to stop alleged theft and forced transfer of U.S. technology, and on how Beijing will be held to its promises."
First, if we want to take the opportunity to increase our share of the Chinese soybean market, Ted McKinney is the guy we want to talk too.
Second, I anticipated that increasing our exports to China would be the easy issue. For China to increase US soybean imports from the typical 30 MMT when they already need 90 MMT total should be pretty easy, just a directive from the Party Committee. But changing the business culture where there isn't an incentive would be harder.
But more to the point, notice who is in charge of the soybean negotiation. The "Under Secretary of Agriculture" aka, a USDA man. And who is in charge of an "Under Secretary of Agriculture"? Our friend, Sonny. We don't have to compete with all the other business interests for his attention.
We need to make sure that Sonny knows that we are expecting more that just the same old 30 MMT of soybeans to China. We want 50 MMT or more of that business and we aren't going to be happy unless we get it.
The problem is, as long as the government remains shutdown, you can't simply send an email, only telephone and the wait times are long, especially to the Representatives.
Does anyone know Sonny's direct telephone No.?
Edited by farmer4321 1/9/2019 07:07
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Trade war negotiations, update.
