U.S. Rice Producers Claim Major Victory in China

XIAMEN, CHINA – Eight months after signing the Phase One Trade agreement, the United States and China are celebrating the first-ever commercial shipment of U.S. grown rice to China. For more than a decade, U.S. industry leaders have been working through regulatory and political roadblocks in an attempt to establish a two-way trading relationship with the world’s largest producer and consumer of rice. The premium, medium-grain Calrose rice was grown in California and sold to a private importer under the ‘Sungiven’ brand for retail distribution. Though China is at the top of global production and consumption, they are second for total rice imports behind the Philippines. Just last month, USDA projected that China would consume more than 146 million metric tons of rice this year, dwarfing the 4.6 million metric tons consumed by Americans in 2020.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)