Rural Matters: Trade and Tariff Updates

The first three weeks of the Trump administration have proven to be very active. The conclusion going forward on what happens next? Expect the unexpected!

Last weekend was spent on trade and tariff talks between the White House and Canada, Mexico, and the USMCA trade agreements.

In these negotiations with Mexico, there has been an agreement to pause the tariffs on goods from Mexico for one month to continue negotiations on border and fentanyl efforts. This pause is effective until March 4.

The White House had planned to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada, except for fuel, which would have a 10% tariff. This tariff was set to go into effect at midnight on February 1. Last-minute tariff negotiations between Canada and the White House resulted in concessions from Canada with a delay for further negotiations. Any Canadian tariffs are also paused until March 4.

A 10% tariff is in effect for China, with comments from President Trump that these can be escalated at any time.

These current and paused tariffs have created concern for fertilizer prices and supplies, with spring just around the corner. See charts of sources for US fertilizer inputs.

The uncertainty of tariffs on trade has the grain markets trading erratically. Landus is watching and communicating daily, sometimes hourly, on these market-influencing events to handle risks in the markets.