It was with great sadness that I learnt of the passing of George H. W. Bush. The world has lost a statesman and a leader who was an example to us all. I personally have lost a friend.

Throughout his life he dedicated himself to his country and to the fight for freedom. From becoming the youngest navy pilot in history during the Second World War, to his ambassadorial roles at the United Nations or China, he always served his country with honour, bravery and dignity. This also defined his Presidency that came at a time of enormous change and instability across the world.

I will never forget the role he played in making Europe a safer and more united place following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. President Bush’s calmness, leadership and close personal relationships with Helmut Kohl and Mikhail Gorbachev were decisive in restoring peace and freedom back to so many people across our Continent. We Europeans will forever remember this.

Above all he was a family man with a deep devotion to his wife, children and grandchildren and the people around him.

I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the American people and the entire Bush family at this sad time.

The U.S. has become Europe’s main supplier of soya beans, reaching a 69% share compared to 38% in the same period last year (July to end November 2017). During this period last year, the EU had imported 1,868,652 tonnes of U.S. soya beans while our current imports are now peaking at 3,722,860 tonnes. This also means that the EU is now by far the top destination of US soya beans exports (27%), followed by Argentina and Mexico (each accounting for 10%.

Following the EU-U.S. Joint Statement by Presidents Juncker and Trump on 25 July, the European Commission is regularly publishing figures on EU imports of soya beans. The two sides have agreed to increase trade in several areas and products, notably soya beans.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, said: “Due to a variety of other market and climatic factors, European protein crop production is not sufficient to cover the growing demand. When it comes to soya, EU self-sufficiency amounts to only 5% of our needs. So while we look at developing our growth potential for EU-grown plant proteins, we will continue to import soya beans from our partners, including the United States who is now our main supplier.” 

Today’s report shows that:

•     Compared to the first 22 weeks of the 2017 marketing year (July to end-November) EU imports of soya beans from the United States are up by 100% at 3,722,860 tonnes;
•     In terms of the EU’s total imports of soya beans, the U.S. share is now at 69%, compared to 38% in in the same period last year. This puts the U.S. well ahead of Brazil (25%), the EU’s second main supplier, followed by Canada (2%), Paraguay (1%) and Uruguay (1%);

Background

The EU imports about 14 million tonnes of soya beans per year as a source of protein to feed our animals, including chicken, pigs and cattle, as well as for milk production. Soya beans from the US happen to be a very attractive feed option for European importers and users thanks to their competitive prices.

The data included in the report published today on soya beans, comes from the Crops Market Observatory which the European Commission launched in July 2017 to share market data and short-term analysis to ensure more transparency. 

For more information 

Annex

I will be brief. There are three points that I would like to make:

Number 1:

The EU was, is and will be open for fair business. Since we last met in this format in Hamburg, the EU has made significant progress in the implementation of its ambitious trade agenda; as a matter of fact we have ongoing talks with most of the countries around this table. We have started seeing the first encouraging results of the implementation of the trade agreement we signed with Justin (Canada) that entered into force in 2017 (and eliminates tariffs on 98% of products). Together with Shinzo we signed an ambitious trade agreement last July that will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million people and nearly one third of global domestic product; this signature was followed last month by the one with Singapore and Vietnam is soon to come. There remain a few legal technicalities to be sorted out with Mexico but we will be there soon. We have ongoing talks with inter alia with Australia, China, India and Indonesia. Let me say one word too about our talks with the United States. The President of the U.S. and I have come to a common understanding of how to develop our trade relationship – the biggest in the world, worth $ 1 trillion – and we are working hard to fulfil our joint ambition of slashing costs and further easing trade. I have to tell you that U.S. LNG exports to the EU have increased by 53% since July, and soya beans imports from the U.S. to the EU have increased by 100%. Our commitment stands.

Number 2:

Brexit. Last week the EU and the U.K. struck a deal that will allow to start disentangle ties that have grown over more than 40 years. This is the best deal possible, in fact: it is the only deal available. While building our new relationship, we will endeavour to remain as close as possible with a particular focus on preserving highly integrated commercial exchanges.

Number 3:

WTO reform. No need to remind why it is a must. All around this room have signed up to the need to do it. What we need now is swift and determined action. If we want to reform the system and make it fairer, we need to arrive to a common understanding of what this means. The EU has put forward proposals to this effect. Earlier this month, we co-sponsored with inter alia Argentina, Japan and the United States, concrete proposals on transparency and notifications. And no later than last Monday we presented ideas on how to move forward on the reform of the Appellate Body together with Australia, Canada, China, India, Korea, Mexico, Singapore and others.

All our proposals can certainly be improved but we want to kick-off a concrete discussion; let us not remain stuck in abstract concepts. We look forward to engaging with all of you on all the proposals on the table.

It is crucial that the G20 provides strong political support to the ongoing efforts; we should agree to instruct our Trade Ministers to work together and with other partners in Geneva to make it happen. We should achieve concrete progress by our next Summit in Osaka.

For more information:

Press release “United States is Europe’s number one soya beans supplier with EU imports up by 100%”

Factsheet “EU-U.S. LNG TRADE”