There has been much attention to, and discussion of, China’s declining two-way trade volumes. China is a trade dependent economy, with imports of many commodities and goods fueling its manufacturing and processing sectors and exports bringing in hard currency. China’s trade flows, however, are down so far this year. In U.S. dollar terms, first half 2023 (January through June) total trade was down 4.7 percent compared to 2022. Through August, exports dropped 5.6 percent and imports dropped 7.6 percent in value. This has raised the attention toward China’s tenuous economic situation. In agricultural trade, exports from the U.S to China have declined through the first seven months of the year by 17 percent, but by commodity...