Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The day after the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ the Chicago Board of Trade was experiencing a mixed reaction, said broker Ryan Ettner of Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Ill.
On April 2, United States President Donald Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs, with the foundation of the levies being a 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed on all countries, with a wide range of duties depending on the country.
Canada & Mexico
However, Canada and Mexico won’t see any additional tariffs on goods that are compliant under the trilateral trade agreement negotiated by Trump in his first term. Those goods that aren’t compliant will continue to be hit with a 25 per cent levy while energy and fertilizer remain at 10 per cent.
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With the Chicago soy complex, the soybeans and the soyoil were down hard while the soymeal bumped up during the April 3 session. The corn was up slightly, and the wheat was either side of unchanged, said Ettner.
‘What everyone did going into this’
“I think it’s more of a matter of what everyone did going into this. Grains as a whole have been pre-selling tariffs for just over a month,” he explained. “The fact that corn and wheat are not selling again, that’s not actually all that surprising, because these are people who sold 20-30 days ago. Now that you have the tariffs on, some are looking to exit and take profits,” he explained.
As for the steep declines in soybeans and soyoil, Ettner pointed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture announcing on April 1 a US$537 million program to expand the country’s biofuel production by more than 60 per cent.
“That caused the beans (and the oil) to jump right in front of the tariffs,” said Ettner.
Crop progress report
The broker is hoping the trade will shift its focus away from Trump’s tariffs to the planting of this spring’s crops. He said the USDA will issue its first crop report of 2025 on April 7, but acknowledged the planting progress in that report will be small.
