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FriedButter

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Argentina tightens sorghum rules to boost China trade, risking new clash with Trump team​

Argentina has tightened export standards for sorghum to strengthen sales to China, a move that could add new strain to relations with the United States, once the main supplier of the grain before tariffs upended global trade.

The Agriculture Secretariat issued a resolution on Friday, setting new grading rules based on test weight and limiting impurities, broken kernels and non-grain material.

Exports must now meet minimum weights of 72, 70 and 67 kilograms per hectolitre depending on grade. Cargoes below those levels no longer qualify for standard export certification.

The measure also updated how sorghum is graded to meet foreign feed and processing requirements, according to the resolution, which said the changes would help avoid cargo rejections and strengthen Argentina’s reliability as a supplier.

In a statement, the agency said the measure was meant to “facilitate domestic marketing, raise the quality of national production and improve Argentina’s position in more demanding markets”. Officials said it aligns local standards with those used by key trading partners.
The resolution replaced a 1994 rule and cited China’s rise as Argentina’s main sorghum buyer since 2021, saying “higher export volumes make it necessary to adapt quality parameters to global demands”.

Its language effectively tied the update to China’s import requirements, signalling that the new grades were designed to meet that market’s expectations on grain quality and consistency.

Government data showed China has become Argentina’s dominant sorghum buyer, taking nearly all shipments this year. Between January and August, Argentina exported 1.23 million tonnes of sorghum, of which 1.22 million tonnes went to China.

Officials said the tighter standards were designed to keep that trade steady by improving cargo consistency and traceability.

The new rules highlight Argentina’s push to expand farm exports to China, where US suppliers once held the upper hand. Before the first round of tariffs under US President Donald Trump, American farmers filled about 90 per cent of China’s sorghum demand. Beijing’s retaliatory duties sent Chinese buyers looking to South America instead.

That competition resurfaced in Washington last month after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was photographed at the United Nations General Assembly reading a message that appeared to criticise Argentina for dropping grain export taxes soon after receiving a US$20 billion financial package from the United States.

The text, reportedly from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted an Iowa grain trader saying the policy had hurt American farmers.

“We bailed out Argentina yesterday and in return Argentina removed their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price to China at a time when we would normally be selling to China,” the message said.

“Soy prices are dropping further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us.”

The episode drew attention to divisions inside the Trump administration over how to balance financial aid for Buenos Aires with efforts to counter Chinese influence in South America.

Under the bailout terms, Argentina had been expected to scale back financial cooperation with Beijing, including an US$18 billion currency swap line.

Yet days before the UN meetings, President Javier Milei’s government suspended export levies on soy, corn and wheat, prompting $7 billion in new export declarations within 48 hours, most bound for China.

Those shipments coincided with a shift in Chinese buying patterns. In August, traders said China had already booked 12 million tonnes of soybeans from Brazil and Argentina for September and October, covering about half its needs and narrowing the export window for US producers.

Brazil has also moved to capitalise. After Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping signed a deal in November to open sorghum trade, Brazil’s agriculture ministry urged farmers to boost maize and sorghum output, though large-scale investment would depend on firm buying commitments from Beijing.

Brazil and Argentina have since captured much of the Chinese demand that once went to the United States, cementing South America’s role in China’s feed supply chain and leaving US farmers watching as another export season slips away.
Exports must now meet minimum weights of 72, 70 and 67 kilograms per hectolitre depending on grade. Cargoes below those levels no longer qualify for standard export certification.
The measure also updated how sorghum is graded to meet foreign feed and processing requirements, according to the resolution

Trump should bail out Argentina again.
 

FairAndUnbiased

Brigadier
Registered Member
I don't need to be school on any Asian history, and my point wasn't about Asian history. Any foreign power that comes in and removes a cultural institution will be treated antagonistically. It doesn't matter whether it's Asia, Africa, or planet Krypton.
Germany had 2000 years of authoritarianism, nationalism and ethnocentrism removed in 1945 by the US and Soviets. I presume they were antagonistic about it. It didn't matter in the end.
 

BasilicaLew

Junior Member
Registered Member
Classic white people trying to steal credit for other's work.
I'm confused by the “crush Marxism now” man talking about how great the Marxist high-speed trains are, really putting the socialism in national socialism to work? But you would be surprised how socialist most far right people are, but of course just not the kind you think socialism is.
 

Africablack

Junior Member
Registered Member
Germany had 2000 years of authoritarianism, nationalism and ethnocentrism removed in 1945 by the US and Soviets. I presume they were antagonistic about it. It didn't matter in the end.
So now you want to be like the US and Soviets? Whatever happened to peaceful rise? Was this great man wrong?

0023ae82cb0c155fd2b402.jpg


I think most are missing my point, but it's all good. Emotions can do that.
 

BasilicaLew

Junior Member
Registered Member
Germany had 2000 years of authoritarianism, nationalism and ethnocentrism removed in 1945 by the US and Soviets. I presume they were antagonistic about it. It didn't matter in the end.
Germans fighting the Roman Empire and the HRE being led by Italians and Austrians and Bohemians are clear examples that prove that your point isn't entirely correct. As a matter of fact, the formation of the North German Confederation was caused due to smaller lords etc oppressing the people, and it also gave them Prussian democracy. Nationalism is correct in the face of federalism .
 

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
because face it, the Anglo atlanticisr west knows it has to pull back
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This is because the Western liberal order has been a lie from the beginning. It wasn't a bunch of nice Westerners spreading a philosophy of being fair and nice and growing from that into a popular movement. It was simply because if they didn't do it, they were going to lose it all from a world revolution against them. How else do you think the West coming from an empire believing in a white supremacist world order trying to conquer the world and enslave humanity to serve their selfish interests to believing into basic human rights that they worked for centuries before trying to deny them from everyone else? The transition was literally overnight. That can only happen because they were forced to or else they were going to lose it all. That's what communism did. I'm not arguing that communism was a good thing. It was just the mechanism that made the West change so drastically because they were dealing with human nature where they were the oppressors of the world and naturally individual human nature would be against being controlled by an outsider. They were the minority and they were trying to control the majority who had enough. All you had to do was ask a Westerner would they accept those conditions living under a non-white person's rule? They would adamantly say no. The communist movement scared Western colonialists because it was the face of the world's anger. Communism didn't become a real threat until the Chinese communist revolution of 1949 because it was an example of what was to come against Western colonialism. That's why the West hated the Chinese more than the Soviets. The Chinese dared to steal China away from the West. That's what the West feared was going to happen everywhere else around the world. That's why they changed.

Do you think a culture that demands them to be in 100% control of everything is going to allow everyone to be in control of their own lives? No, that's where the lie of the Western democratic liberal world order comes in with all these promises of human rights for all when it was just a ruse to bait people into continuing Western rule in the world. From the Cold War all the way to today, the West protects themselves and gives exception for their own to violate everything they claim to be against. They lost most of the lands they stole with all the resources they need to run their first world economies and now they're losing their narrative they've forced onto the world. That's why the West is losing. They can't defend what they claim they're for.

Just look at the US. Look at how Trump has bulldozed what are the pillars of what the Western liberal order says makes them strong. Where are the mighty checks and balances of the Western rule of law that are supposed to defend these mighty principals? The can't even protect their society but somehow the world is supposed to believe they'll be there to protect everyone else? Look at how the West stands by doing nothing about the genocide in Gaza. But they demanded the world to obey them blindly and follow in-line over Ukraine to save white people. It's so obvious but they don't want to talk about it and that's why they're losing the world. Look at all the negatives they paint of China and yet the world is still gravitating towards China. That just says how much the world sees their lies.
 
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FriedButter

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India looks to ink deal for 114 Rafale as early as next year, some to come in fly-away condition​

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF), backed by a strong push from the centre, is looking at finalising the contract for 114 Rafale fighter jets with at least 18 being delivered off-the-shelf in a shorter timeline with Made in India parts as early as next fiscal year, ThePrint has learnt.

Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that French aerospace company Dassault Aviation would set up a final assembly line in India for the fighter jets, with a target of at least 60 per cent indigenisation.

On 9 April this year, ThePrint was the first to report that the Narendra Modi-led government had decided to scrap the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme and would instead opt for a direct government-to-government deal for Rafale with France.

Asian News International (ANI) reported over the weekend that the proposal for the 114 Rafale jets prepared by the IAF had recently been submitted to the Defence Ministry and is under consideration by the different wings under it, including Defence Finance. It went on to say that after deliberations, the proposal would then be moved to the Defence Procurement Board, followed by the Defence Acquisition Council, which will give it the Acceptance of Necessity, following which formal negotiations will start.

Also Read: Pakistan’s claim on 3 Rafales shot down ‘inaccurate’, better than F-35 & Chinese fighters—Dassault CEO

What version will the new Rafale be?

According to sources, the new Rafale jets will be the Standard F4 plus version and will come equipped with longer-range air-to-air missiles (two) and air-to-ground munitions.

Qualified by the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), the French defence procurement agency, in March 2023, the F4.1 standard is now in service with the French Air Force and Navy.

The F4 standard focuses on improving the connectivity of the Rafale through new satellite and intra-flight links, communications servers, and software radios, improving its effectiveness in net-centric combat and paving the way for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), reported Aviation International News (AIN).

As per the AIN report, externally, there is nothing to differentiate a Rafale F4 from a Rafale F3-R, though it marks a major technological leap, with improvements to the navigation and weapons system, the Spectra electronic warfare suite, the Talios target designation pod, and the RBE2 AESA radar. It also comes with the MICA NG air-to-air missile.

The Rafale in service with India is the F3-R plus version, all of which will be upgraded to the latest standard, sources told ThePrint. The IAF’s Rafale has 13 India-specific enhancements, a notch above the F3 variants.

The sources told ThePrint that when the Mirage came in, it came in five different versions, all of which were subsequently upgraded. “The versions are more to do with the software and associated upgrades,” sources said.

Asked if the IAF will opt for the F5 version (which is under works), sources said that it is some years away and upcoming talks will include all future upgrades that need to be done.

Dassault Aviation’s planned standard F5 Rafale will have more powerful engines, improved survivability and data links and will be accompanied by an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) weighing more than 10 tonnes.

Also Read: France’s Dassault Aviation ties up with Tata for Rafale fuselage manufacturing in India

The road ahead

Explaining the way ahead for the new Rafale, sources said, “The aim is that due processes are completed in a fast track manner,” hinting at a signing in the following fiscal year.

They added the deal, valued at Rs 2 lakh crore, will include approximately 18 Rafale fighter jets bought in a fly-away condition.

“The aim is that these aircraft should come in a faster timeline than what is usually the case,” said another source.

Asked if Dassault Aviation will have an Indian partner for manufacturing of the aircraft, sources said that the French firm is already working with several Indian companies, such as the Tata Group for the fuselage and Mahindra for other systems.

“Dassault has informed that they will be willing to set up a full-fledged final assembly line here and would be able to come up with 60 percent indigenisation, including making of the fuselage, wings and other parts,” a source said, adding that the template for the programme can be the C-295 production in India.

They said that Dassault Aviation is already setting up a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Facility (MRO) in India, as reported by ThePrint earlier, and have committed to making India as a Rafale manufacturing and maintenance hub besides the facilities in France.

India will emerge as the largest operators of the Rafale aircraft outside of France.

India has bought 36 Rafale in 2016 and has now ordered 26 Rafale Marine aircraft for the Indian Navy.

The article isn’t new but it is funny how India gloats about obliterating Chinese jets at ease.

Yet, they are requesting the France to fast track the 114 Rafales as soon as possible with longer range air to air missiles. Why the procurement rush if you have nothing to fear of Temu Jets?

“The aim is that due processes are completed in a fast track manner,” “The aim is that these aircraft should come in a faster timeline than what is usually the case,” said another source.
 

A potato

Junior Member
Registered Member
So now you want to be like the US and Soviets? Whatever happened to peaceful rise? Was this great man wrong?

0023ae82cb0c155fd2b402.jpg


I think most are missing my point, but it's all good. Emotions can do there
There are statements from Japanese officials that said they would invade China when they have a chance making them a threat. This is a story old as time that anyone who attacks China would eventually face the wraith of China. Also Asia is literally the balkans where everyone and I mean everyone hates each other.
 
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