CHICAGO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. trade tensions with China and other countries are increasingly worrying rural America and will also threaten economies around the world, a U.S. agricultural cooperative bank warned.
According to the CoBank's quarterly Rural Economic Review released Thursday, 70 percent of U.S. agricultural exports are bound for destinations that are either in trade negotiations or in dispute with the United States.
"Trade concerns pose the single greatest risk to the projected global economic growth of three to four percent," Tanner Ehmke, manager of CoBank's knowledge exchange division, said. "The U.S. and China have been driving the growth, benefiting emerging markets around the globe. A trade war between the two is dangerous for economies around the world."
Aside from potentially losing market share in emerging markets, the United States may face shake-ups in historical supply-chain commitments, with competitors seeking new trade relationships amid the current trade disputes, the review said.
Retaliatory tariffs from China and Mexico targeting U.S. agricultural products have dampened the economy's outlook. Not only soybeans, but tree nuts, grapes and dairy products may also face losing market share in valuable growth markets, it said.
Animal-based protein production in the United States is rising to record levels, requiring robust exports to prevent domestic markets from being overwhelmed.
"This makes trade talks impacting export demand a central focus for the industry," Ehmke said. "Pork producers may be the most worried, as exports account for 25 percent of U.S. pork production."
A recent survey of U.S. Midwest bankers showed a "significant increase" in farm loan rejections.
The survey by a team from the Omaha-based Creighton University found nearly 43 percent of initial farm loan applications had been rejected as bankers reacted to weak farm incomes amid concerns about trade "skirmishes" slowing growth.
