China's Biotech Policies and Their Impacts on U.S. Agricultural Exports to China

China is a key player in global agricultural markets, and the number one importer of U.S. soybeans and cotton, whereby soybeans and cotton are two of the main biotech commodities commercialized in the United States. As of 2005, 87% of soybeans and 79% of cotton planted in the U.S. were biotech. Thus, changes in China's biotech policies may have a significant impact on U.S. biotech commodity exports to China. An understanding of the evolution of China's biotech regulations and factors that may influence China's future biotech policies is crucial for both U.S. producers and policymakers. This article introduces the development of China's biotech regulations in detail. Focusing on soybeans and cotton, the impact of China's biotech policy changes on U.S. trade with China are examined. Results indicate that changes in China's biotech policies in 2001 did cause delay of U.S. soybean exports to China in the short-run, immediately after China's policies were announced. However, no long term impacts on U.S. soybean exports to China were found. For cotton, a non-food commodity and China's dominant commercialized biotech commodity, it appears that U.S. cotton exports to China were not affected by China's biotech policies