Additional Chinese purchases might not mean more US farm production

Should Beijing try to fulfill its pledge to buy $40 billion to $50 billion in United States agricultural products, farmers wouldn’t be able to produce additional product to meet the demand but would still benefit in the form of higher prices by redirecting exports to China from other countries.

“Yes, we can export $40 billion to $50 billion more to China. It just may not be in addition to what our current exports are,” said Veronica Nigh, economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We’ve been exporting additional soybeans to other parts of the world in large part because Brazil, Argentina, and other places have been exporting their products to China.”