BRAZILIAN farmers are converting rainforest to farmland partly to meet China's growing demand for soybeans that China had been sourcing from the US before the trade war began, says Teucrium Trading CEO Sal Gilbertie.

'By using the trade war as a cover to accelerate its plans in Brazil, China is motivating farmers to burn and clear more land, all fulfilling a plan that's been in place long before the trade war began and will remain long after the trade war ends,' he said.



'When viewed strategically, it becomes clear that the trade war is simply providing China's Communist Party the cover it needs to secure the future supply chains it will require as the pre-eminent global superpower,' Mr Gilbertie, reported New York's Business Insider.



'The heart of China's trade war strategy has been to target US farmers in order to politically pressure what was Trump's strongest base of support in the 2018 election. By placing tariffs on American soybeans, Beijing has artificially priced the US out of the Chinese market,' said Mr Gilbertie, who heads a Vermont based agricultural commodity investment fund



'Chinese importers are turning to Brazil for their soybeans, which has in turn driven up demand for farmland. This desire for more planting area has helped fuel the fires burning thousands of acres of Amazon rainforest,' he said.



'The Chinese know that Brazil has far more land available for new farmland than perhaps any other country on earth; that land just happens to be covered by rainforest,?he said.



'The trade war is also enabling the Chinese to advance its plans of securing non-US-sourced food supplies long into the future by conveniently providing both cover and opportunity to create a more globally diversified food supply for its people,' he said.



'Under President Xi Jinping, China has embarked on an investment plan of epic proportions to achieve its long-term food-security goals.



'Relatively small transactions like the purchase of US-based Smithfield foods to secure both supplies of pork and advanced agricultural technologies, and direct investments in agricultural land in South America and Equatorial Africa, are examples of China's food-security plan unfolding before our eyes.



'Of course the crown jewel of its plan is the Belt and Road Initiative, which involves more than 60 countries and will extend China's economic and military reach across the globe, creating a super supply chain able to support China's needs for as long as earth's resources last.



'The trade war is providing convenient cover for China to advance its long-term plans of securing food supplies long into the future. Those plans include decreasing Chinese reliance on single-source suppliers, such as US soybean farmers,' said Mr Gilbertie.



'By using the trade war as a cover to accelerate its plans in Brazil, China is exacerbating ecologic pressures in the Amazon jungle by motivating farmers to burn and clear more land, all fulfilling a plan that's been in place long before the trade war began and will remain long after the trade war ends,' he said.


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