The Ohio Soybean Association (OSA) joined the American Soybean Association today in expressing its appreciation to the Administration for the Phase 1 trade deal with China. Ohio soybean farmers are encouraged by the deal and hopeful the next phase will address the retaliatory tariffs that China placed on U.S. soybean imports in 2018.

“The ongoing trade dispute with China has been hard on soybean farmers across the country,” said Ryan Rhoades, OSA president and Marion County soybean farmer. “While this doesn’t remove the tariffs on soybeans, we applaud the progress being made on important issues like intellectual property rights and regulatory improvements. Farmers are feeling hopeful.”

The Phase 1 deal announced and signed today includes increased agricultural purchases, a more predictable and efficient regulatory approval process for biotech products, improvements to sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and intellectual property protection for agriculture. According to the White House, China’s imports of U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans, will total $80 billion over the next two years.

The value of the Ohio soybean crop is approximately $2.5 billion with 7.9 million metric tons (288 bushels) of soybeans produced in 2018. Soybeans are Ohio’s number one crop and top agricultural export.