The US and China’s dizzying tariff tit-for-tat has spurred Brazil’s agricultural sector and pummelled American farmers, as Beijing looks to Latin America’s largest economy for a swath of goods from soyabeans to beef.
Brazil was a major winner in President Donald Trump’s first trade war with China, dramatically expanding its then-narrow lead over the US as Beijing’s biggest food supplier. It now looks set to pull further ahead, with exports to China already surging before Trump hiked his tariffs on the country by 145 per cent and Beijing added levies of 125 per cent.
“It is a boon for farmers in Brazil and Argentina, and it will help their industry a lot,” said Ishan Bhanu, lead agriculture analyst at commodities data provider Kpler. “The ramifications of this will be longer lasting than the actual measures — in Asia, countries will build better relationships with South America.”