A major industry in North Carolina remains on edge after an agriculture deal between the U.S. and China last week did not include tobacco.
Triple B Farms in eastern North Carolina is one piece of a critical industry in North Carolina. Sixty percent of all U.S. tobacco production is from the state.
But this summer, Brandon Batten suffered a blow when China announced it would not purchase flue-cured tobacco in the 2025 crop.
“It’s put an incredible amount of downward pressure on the price,” Batten said. “Anywhere from 20 to 25% off of where we expected to be.”
China is the leading international buyer of American flue-cured tobacco, which is used to make cigarettes, so losing it was a big deal.
“The assumption is that it was all to have leverage in their meeting with President Trump on tariffs,” said N.C. State agriculture professor Jeffrey Dorfman. “And that’s the same reason they stopped buying soybeans.”
That meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week did result in an agricultural deal. But while China said it would buy some U.S. soybeans, tobacco was not in the agreement.
“I was disappointed… the fact that it wasn’t mentioned is of concern because it is huge for our state,” said Batten, who co-owns Triple B Farms. “I think just mentioning it could have moved the needle some.”
Batten said if China doesn’t resume its purchases next year it could have a significant financial impact. He said a little more than half of the tobacco he grows goes to China.
“Certainly something needed to be done on the unfair trade policies we had been exposed to over the last several years, even decades. But the short-term pain, you got to be able to survive that, to make it to the long-term benefits,” Batten said.
Brent Leggett is a partner of Leggett Farming Partnership in North Carolina and says tobacco is the top revenue generator for his farm. He’s optimistic an agreement will be reached.
“Hopefully, we can have a trade deal where China can once again be a great customer of the U.S.,” Leggett said.
Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat who represents a large portion of eastern North Carolina where many tobacco farms are located, sent Spectrum News 1 a statement saying, in part, “It’s deeply troubling that tobacco, a key part of eastern North Carolina’s economy, was excluded from the recent U.S.–China agriculture deal. Our flue-cured growers have already faced uncertainty due to trade policies and stringent regulations… leaving our eastern North Carolina growers behind again sends the wrong message.”
Spectrum News 1 reached out to the White House for a statement but has not heard back.
