US plans to increase soybean exports to Italy

Italy will increase imports of U.S. soybeans as part of a new effort to rebalance trade between the two countries, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters Monday after meeting with her Italian counterpart, Bloomberg reported.

The United States and Italy are forming a new task force to promote agricultural trade between the two countries, Rollins and Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said after a meeting in Washington. Italy has already begun to increase its purchases of U.S. soybeans, Rollins said.

“It’s not that they’re necessarily buying more overall — they’re just shifting their purchases back to America,” Rollins said. Brazil, Canada and Ukraine also supply Italy with soybeans, according to the World Bank.

While Italy is not a major soybean importer, it is an example of how the U.S. is tapping smaller markets as part of its efforts to diversify supplies to China. American producers have moved away from soybeans in part because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies, which have forced the Asian nation to stop importing most American farm products.

U.S. and European Union officials are still negotiating a trade deal ahead of a July 9 deadline that would see tariffs on nearly all of the bloc’s exports to the U.S. jump to 50%. The EU is ready to accept a trade deal with the U.S. that includes a 10% blanket tariff on many EU exports, according to people familiar with the matter.

Washington is reportedly hunting for buyers of the American crop. The U.S. agricultural trade deficit has reached a record $20 billion and is growing.

Tags: soybean, USA, Italy