Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE 6/13/18

USDA's top trade official, Ted McKinney, said during a call from Japan on Tuesday that U.S. and Japanese agricultural leaders are forging ahead in efforts to strike deals for new sales and grow the bilateral trade relationship, regardless of whether the two allies can reach a formal trade agreement. McKinney will be in Japan all week to discuss with Japanese government officials and business leaders ways to expand trade opportunities for U.S. producers. He was accompanied by leaders from 15 state departments of agriculture and 42 agribusiness groups, such as the U.S. Grains Council and Oregon Cherry Growers.

The Trump administration's "preference is for a bilateral [trade deal], but I would not say the tone, the demeanor has changed. In fact ... it was rather warm," McKinney, undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, said in a call with reporters.

Not a formal trade negotiation: McKinney specified that the talks were "more transactional" and are focused on building out more two-way sales. Formal trade deal negotiations are left to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House, he said.

But the trade mission, which features the largest number of attendees of any mission in the history of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, signals how important Japan is as a trading partner for U.S. agriculture, he added.

Storm clouds on China trade front: President Donald Trump is primed to impose tariffs on Chinese goods as soon as Friday or next week, two sources briefed on internal deliberations told Pro Trade's Adam Behsudi. Such a move is sure to further inflame tensions and spark almost immediate retaliation from Beijing in ways that would hurt many U.S. producers, especially soybean growers. The administration on Friday is planning to publish a final list of Chinese goods that will take the hit.

After Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday — a meeting that China was seen as helping to bring about — Trump said Beijing has not done an adequate job of closing its border to trade with North Korea in recent months, and

Trump seemed to blame that for rising U.S.-China trade tensions.

"Which is a shame. But I have to do it. I have no choice. For our country, I have to do it," Trump said at a press conference in Singapore, possibly referring to imposing new tariffs.