SHOT, CHASER: Cramer Calls Warnings of Harm to Soybean Industry “Exaggerated Hyperbole,” China Buys Record Amount of Russian Soy

AUDIO: Cramer Continues to Mislead Soybean Producers about Devastating Impact of the Tariffs He Supports

(BISMARCK, ND) — There he goes again: It looks like Kevin Cramer is back to whistling a ‘nothing-to-see-here’ tune to North Dakota soybean farmers. Just one day after feigning sympathy for their concerns over a looming trade war with China while refusing to denounce the president’s tariffs, Cramer’s back to the same old ‘ignore-the-facts’ song and dance.

Today, Cramer said he’s “quite confident” that warnings from his fellow Republicans of significant harm to the soybean industry are “exaggerated hyperbole.” According to Cramer, that’s because “China’s purchase of soybeans somewhere else means that that’s a new market for U.S. soybeans.” Listen to the full exchange here.

But according to a report in Bloomberg News today, after canceling several shipments to the U.S., China just bought a record amount of Russian soy, almost tripling purchases from last year. Brazil is also expected to take much of the market.

“Does Cramer really think he has any credibility with North Dakota ag producers anymore? After weeks of belittling their concerns on tariffs, he’s calling his fellow Republicans’ concerns for the soybean industry nothing more than ‘exaggerated hyperbole,’” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Dem-NPL. “Now that North Dakota is losing business to Russia, you would think Cramer would put his own self-promotion on pause and finally stand up for our farmers. But instead, he’s doubling down – telling our farmers he’s ‘quite confident’ soybeans will be fine, and this could open up new markets for them. But China isn’t buying – and neither are North Dakotans.”

SHOT:

THOMAS: Yeah and here he appeared before the Herald editorial board yesterday and according to their written report today, he says that he is going to be one of the, well the Herald says that he says, one of the first to say that a drawn-out trade war with China will kill – kill – the North Dakota soybean industry.

CRAMER: Well that would be very discouraging to a soybean farmer, I would think.

THOMAS: Well, absolutely. But I just want to know, do you think it’s true?

CRAMER: No. No, I don’t think it’s true at all. You know, I think the sentiment, I understand it might be a little bit exaggerated hyperbole. But no, I don’t think it’s true. In fact, I think that it’s clear that it’s not true. Soybeans, in my view, were always the wrong, they were the wrong poster child for why this negotiation with China is bad. Don’t get me wrong. China is an important purchaser of North Dakota soybeans. They purchase about 70 percent of the soybeans grown in North Dakota but North Dakota and the United States and North Dakota is the fifth largest producer in the United States. The United States, of course, the second largest producer in the world. The largest producer being Brazil and between the two countries, they produce 90 percent of soybeans in the whole world. The other 10 percent are largely from Argentina. So needless to say, soybeans are one of those products where there’s a very high demand and short supply. That means there’ll always be a you know a pretty good price for soybeans and whatever, you know, whoever displaces, whoever’s displaced, I guess, by China’s purchase of soybeans somewhere else means that that’s a new market for US soybeans. So no, it wouldn’t. It wouldn’t kill the industry, I’m quite confident.

Listen to the full exchange here.

CHASER:

Bloomberg: China Buys Record Amount of Russian Soy as It Shuns U.S. Growers

• China, the world’s biggest soybean importer, almost tripled purchases from Russia amid a trade dispute with the U.S., the biggest producer.

• Russia sold about 850,000 metric tons of soybeans to China from the start of the 12-month season in July through mid-May, according to Russia’s agriculture agency Rosselkhoznadzor. That’s more than during any season before and compares with about 340,000 tons sold during all of the previous period, Chinese customs data show.

• China has already canceled several shipments from the U.S. in anticipation of tariffs on the country’s products. While Brazil is expected to take much of that market share, Russia is also benefiting.