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October 2016 Trade Bulletin

Highlights of this Month’s Edition:

  • Bilateral trade: U.S. deficit with China widens in August 2016 on higher imports, but cumulative deficit down year-to-date.

  • Bilateral policy issues: Under China’s presidency, leaders at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou pledged to strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination to maintain global growth, but failed to issue concrete proposals; the USTR is challenging China’s excessive government support for rice, corn, and wheat production at the WTO.

  • Policy trends in China’s economy: The decreasing efficiency of new credit, the speed with which China is accumulating debt, and the rise of nonperforming loans are contributing to China’s vulnerability to a banking crisis; McDonald’s and Yum! Brands to sell rights to operate in China as U.S. fast food restaurants face stagnant growth in China.

  • Sector focus – Rice, Corn, and Wheat: Chinese support for domestic farmers creates world’s largest stockpile of grain and may cost U.S. wheat farmers $650 million annually; U.S. rice farmers gain access to Chinese market for the first time; U.S. corn exports declined 91 percent from 2012 to 2015 as China blocked shipments of U.S. corn in 2014 and started diversifying its corn imports.