Newhouse on Progress with China

Newhouse on Progress with China

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. The on again, off again trade negotiations between the U.S. and China are nothing if not frustrating for America's ag producers. We heard recently that talks were about to resume, but so far, no word on if those talks have begun. In the meantime, President Trump has again threatened to boost tariffs on billions in Chinese goods.

U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says there's frustration on

both sides ...

NEWHOUSE ... "Well, the interesting thing is too, we're seeing reports come out of China that some of the manufacturers that have moved to China are now moving to other countries because they don't want to get caught up in this trade war between the United States and China. So, that's having a huge detrimental impact on China's economy."

But, to what end?

NEWHOUSE ... "Some say that that proves that our strategy is working, but it remains to be seen if that's going to help bring China back to the bargaining table, but we certainly are seeing some impacts to the tariffs."

Unfortunately, Newhouse says there's not much to report at this time ...

NEWHOUSE ... "I don't have any good news to be able to share that negotiations are immanent or that we are going to be starting as soon as we would like to have them start, but we keep pushing the administration, I've said many times, that we need to have a successful conclusion to this as quickly as possible and we'll keep sending that message."

Over the weekend, President Trump told reporters that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has been in communications with China, but no word if any progress was made.

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BL: Welcome back to another "Fruit Bites" brought to you by Valent U.S.A. Joining us once again is Valent's Allison Walston. And this week Allison, tell me about earwigs ...

AW: Well just mentioning earwigs, most of you had a little shiver. European earwigs were first found in Seattle in 1907. If you're a master gardener earwigs are an enemy. If you're a fruit grower, earwigs might be a friend.

BL: A friend? But earwigs are found in apples when clustered together. Aren't they feeding on the apples?

AW: but earwigs could also be feeding on aphids and other orchard pests. Rick Hilton down in Medford, OR and now Dr. Robert Orpet from WSU are proving that earwigs can be an underappreciated predator.

BL: Before I totally change my mind about earwigs, I need more ...

AW: In a recently published article, Orpet found that where earwigs were present in the orchard, there were considerably less woolly apple aphid colonies. He even dissected earwig stomachs and found aphids.

BL: [insert dad joke]

BL: Well maybe they don't "bug" me as much as I thought, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I'm Bob Larson.

https://www.growingproduce.com/fruits/can-earwigs-take-a-bite-out-of-apple-pests/?e=awals@valent.com&utm_source=realmagnet&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=gpweeklynews07132019

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