China and More

June 25, 2020

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the National Corn Growers Association, CropLife America, and Renewable Fuels Association. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

And now for today’s commentary –

I have, on more than one occasion, talked about President Trump and EPA in their effort
to restrain President Obama's Waters of the U.S. rule. That rule was written to restrict farmers
and ranchers from tiling wetlands and managing our private property. Last Friday, we got a
court ruling giving EPA's new rule the green light. Maybe the federal government will leave us
alone and let us manage our business now.

Another important court ruling blocked a liberal effort to stop farmers from using
dicamba weed killers during this planting season. This is not the time to change the rules when
farmers are in the field.

China. China - that is all we hear. Here is some interesting news. China has risen to be
our biggest trading partner. U.S./China trade rose almost $40 billion in April, moving China
ahead of Mexico and Canada. Do not be overly impressed. The numbers are below a year ago.
Last week U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer testified before the House Ways and Means
Committee. He reported that "China will fully comply with their promise to buy U.S. ag
products." If they "fully comply," that will be a big deal.

I do not think we have heard enough about how the Coronavirus has disrupted trade. 90%
of world trade is carried by 50,000 ships. We saw how the virus closed down a number of our
livestock processing plants. Let's keep those merchant ships on the waves. We need the markets.
The U.S. relationship with China is not a positive one today. It is very complicated. We have
the tariff war, Coronavirus, and of course, the competition for global power and influence. We
don't need a cold war. We need to negotiate and arrive at a reasonable solution.

My last subject is another federal government land grab. We have a new piece of legislation called the Great American Outdoor Act. If it becomes law, the government would be required to spend $900 million each year to fund federal land purchases. The federal government already has too much land. The government owns 30% of the land in the U.S. That is my opinion.

Until next week, this is John Block reporting from Washington, D.C. If you would like
to review my radio shows going back more than 20 years, just go on-line to
www.johnblockreports.com.