USDA's Johansson Confirms USDA's July 12 S&D Could Reflect Tariffs

USDA analysts could take into account tariffs by China and Mexico against U.S. ag products in the July 12 World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) report if the duties are put in place, USDA Chief Economist Robert Johansson told Reuters in an interview. The assumption would be the tariffs would be in effect "the rest of the year," Johansson said."We would expect a lot to happen in the markets if these tariffs were still in place come the fall," Johansson said. "We would expect China to be purchasing as much as possible from South America. Our soybeans for their buyers would be higher priced."The comments from Johansson are not surprising as USDA cannot incorporate such trade actions into their analysis until they are actually deployed.USDA has already adjusted some of its forecasts in the livestock area in response to Mexican duties already put in place on U.S. pork.