[Sherman Logan]

Is the exported cost of alfalfa being held artificially low by current trade policy? Is the price of alfalfa at the feedstore held artificially high because of that same trade policy?

I'm curious. How did you get either of these from the article?

The only "trade policy" discussion was with regard to shippers giving extra-low rates to goods headed back across the Pacific to avoid deadheading. That's a company policy, not a national one.

There may be a good discussion to have on the topics you bring up, but not based on this article.

[blueplum]

*I'm curious. How did you get either of these from the article?*

from this:

The other: How could it possibly make economic sense to ship a bulky product such as alfalfa hay 7,000 miles to China?

The answer, said Zhang, involves the enormous U.S.-China trade imbalance. Because China ships so many goods to West Coast ports,

without an 'enormous...trade imbalance' there wouldn't be all those empty container ships offering large discounts for China-bound freight. It's only because of the large discounts that exporting alfalfa becomes profitable. Foreign demand drives domestic price.