Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

Washington’s action against Chinese imports Friday, and the response from Beijing, are hurting some U.S. industries more than others. Here’s a round-up of Bloomberg’s coverage of how the dispute is playing out in corporate America.

Renewables

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports include duties on components for wind turbines, nuclear reactors and batteries — but they are unlikely to cripple any of those industries.

Less than 2 percent of wind turbines installed in the U.S. since 2010 were imported from China, Stephen Munro, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an email Friday.

“It may prove to be a glancing blow as there are non-Chinese alternatives available,” he said.

The list of targeted products includes components used in most lithium-ion batteries, Ravi Manghani, an analyst at GTM Research, said in an email. But China supplies the U.S. with just 3 percent of those products, he said. Plus, he added, American manufacturers have multiple alternatives from Japan and South Korea.

When it comes to nukes, there are only two reactors under construction in the U.S., and it’s unlikely ground will be broken on any more large ones in the next decade, Chris Gadomski, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst, said in an email. “Any new reactors that may be built would be U.S. developed advanced reactors absent Chinese components,” Gadomski said in an email.

Click here for more on the tariffs’ effect on the energy industry.

Agriculture

Soybean futures fell to the lowest in 10 months in anticipation of retaliation from China. Prices for November delivery dropped 0.7 percent to $9.4375 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade after touching $9.2725, the lowest for the most active contract since August 17, 2017. This week, the oilseed tumbled 5.8 percent, poised for a record decline.

Duties against U.S. shipments may mean that China imports more from South America at a premium, Rabobank said in a report. Prices in Brazil, the world’s top exporter, are rising after a national trucker strike stalled freight and a drought in Argentina cut global global supplies.

Cotton for December delivery tumbled as much as 3.7 percent to 89.52 cents per pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. “Fears that U.S. cotton may be involved in the China retaliatory response helped to drive the market sharply lower,” David Hightower, founder of Chicago-based Hightower Report, said in a note.

— With assistance by Crayton Harrison, Jack Kaskey, Craig Trudell, and Sarah Gardner