The cotton market was sharply lower Friday amid trade comments made by President Trump. Thursday at a coronavirus briefing, when questioned about China’s role in promulgating the virus, the President indicated the fault lies with China.

Currently, he said his administration was trying to determine as to whether the virus was an accident or an intentional act. As far as referencing some sort of punishment, Trump said, off the cuff, he could deepen the tariffs.

Of course, such action might bring some sort of financial retaliation from China, hence, cotton traded sharply lower ahead of the weekend.

For the week, July cotton finished up 0.21 cent, for the new month, it stands 1.49 cents down and for the year, it is down 14.97 cents.

Next week, the market will see planting progress numbers on Monday afternoon, May cotton’s expiration on Wednesday, then Thursday’s crucial weekly export sales. The market hopes this week’s huge sales will be the start of a buying trend for China.

July cotton settled at 55.84 cents, down 1.49 cents, December closed at 57.52 cents, down 1.40 cents and March ended at 58.62 cents, down 0.95 cent. Estimated volume was 24,066 contracts.