China grain deal with Brazil tests US ties

NAPERVILLE: China on Wednesday gave Brazil the go-ahead to begin exporting sorghum to Chinese buyers, a somewhat peculiar move since Brazil hardly exports the grain at all.

But the United States has a dominant presence in the Chinese sorghum market, which is why the development could help gauge US-China trade relations going forward, especially from January when President-elect Donald Trump begins his second term.

US agricultural exporters have lost Chinese business to Brazil over the last several years, and many market watchers fear this could continue if Trump dials up trade tariffs on China.

For US exporters, sorghum trade with China brought in more than $1 billion last year.

The United States is overwhelmingly the world's top exporter of sorghum and China almost exclusively controls imports.