EU soybean imports from the United States almost quadrupled early in the new marketing year, the European Union said, a week after it struck a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump to avert a trade row, as buyers responded to a sharp drop in prices, Reuters reports.
The EU said in a statement that the collation of new bi-monthly import data showing the rise was “the first concrete follow-up to the EU-U.S. joint statement agreed in Washington between Commission President Juncker and U.S. President Trump."
A spokeswoman for the Commission said the increase was thanks to market forces, however, rather than any concerted action on the part of the bloc in the wake of an transatlantic accord with Washington to fend off new tariffs.
Market analysts say the surge was caused by plunging prices in June, as China largely stopped buying U.S. soybeans in retaliation for trade measures that Trump has targeted at Beijing.
