Truth In Advertising -- September 22, 2019

Earlier this week, a reader sent me a link to this KFYR [K-Fire] TV, Bismarck, ND: Taiwan to purchase agricultural products to the tune of $3.5 billion from the US over the next two years. That includes soybeans and wheat, some of which could come from North Dakota, along with corn and beef.

Sounds huge, doesn't it?

Sounds like another bragging point for President Trump.

What irritates me with today's journalists: so much is never put in perspective. In this case, how does $3.5 billion over two years compare to recent history?

It took less than a New York minute to find the answer.

Here's the USDA link.

Here's the screenshot:

So, note. From the same source, the USDA via IHS Markit, in 2018, Taiwan imported $11.746 billion worth of agricultural products from around the world. It was estimated that 36% of that was from the US.

36% of $11.746 billion = $4.223 billion. For one year.

$4.223 billion for one year.

Now, back to the KFYR-TV story:$3.8 billion over two years. Taiwan plans to buy less over two years than they bought from the US last year, and the year before that, and in 2014.

Disclaimer: I often make simply errors in arithmetic.