Prices for cotton—one of the commodities targeted by 15% retaliatory tariffs China has set for next week—shed 3.5% Tuesday to close at the lowest level since the summer of 2020.
The U.S. is a major cotton exporter, shipping $5 billion worth last year, and China has been the biggest buyer over the past decade, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
At about 63 cents a pound, futures are a third lower than they were a year ago. That has put pressure on U.S. farmers, who were already expecting to receive the lowest price in years for their crops before the trade war intensified this week.
U.S. farmers have planted about 11.2 million acres with cotton, nearly a million acres more than last season, according to the Agriculture Department, which expects fewer failed crops than recent years but lower yields.
