China's agriculture ministry said it was lowering its forecast for corn consumption in the 2019/20 crop year amid outbreaks of African swine fever across the country.
China's economy already is slowing amid the trade conflict with the United States, but if Washington were to ramp up tariffs even further it could cut Chinese growth sharply, the IMF warned on Friday.
President Donald Trump cast more doubt on chances for a trade deal with Beijing on Friday, signalling he might cancel talks set for September amid an intensifying US-China trade war.
The price of Brazilian soybeans in local currency reached the highest level in almost two months, driven by a spike in port premiums for soybeans and a weaker currency, both caused by the trade dispute between China and the United States.
Chinese exports rose unexpectedly in July, beating expectations for a fall, as trade tensions with the US continued to simmer. Official figures showed exports rose 3.3% last month, compared to forecasts for a 2% drop. Imports fell 5.6% in July, less than the expected 8.3% decline.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to protect US farmers against China by signaling to provide further aid if needed, a day after Chinese firms stopped agricultural purchases and Beijing threatened more tariffs on US farm products.
Asian shares steadied slightly on Wednesday as investors caught their breath from a searing week-long selloff, with steps taken by Chinese authorities to contain a sliding Yuan helping calm fears of a full-blown Sino-U.S. trade and currency war.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who last week cut U.S. interest rates as an insurance policy against the effects of simmering trade tensions, may need to buy more coverage after the United States late on Monday designated China a currency manipulator.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly hit out at China for failing to curb the export of illegal fentanyl to the United States. The powerful painkiller is the primary synthetic opioid available in the US, a class of drug that was responsible for almost 32,000 overdose deaths last year.
President Donald Trump has labelled recent protests in Hong Kong as “riots”, adopting the language used by Chinese authorities and suggesting that the United States would stay out of an issue that was “between Hong Kong and China”.