Chart of the week: cheese – the first casualty of the trade war

US cheese prices have crumbled thanks to a glut,says Myra Saefong in Barron's. The block cheddar cheese benchmark price settled at around $1.54 a pound after a bout of volatility this month. Traders predict more of the same for the year. But in the long run, prices should recover.

Two of the largest importers of US dairy products are China (which imported $577m in 2017) and Mexico (with $1.3bn), and both implemented tariffs on cheese in retaliation against US levies. These ongoing trade wars are likely to lead to dairy-farm closures, which would slow down cheese production.

US cheese prices have crumbled thanks to a glut the block cheddar cheese benchmark price settled at around $1.54 a pound As supply dries up, cheese prices will come to reflect a new balance between supply and demand.

Viewpoint

"During more than 40 years of European integration, the UK economy has become so enmeshed with those of the rest of the EU that a vast tranche of our economic activity is only legally authorised by a thicket of EU laws Even before the referendum,some of us were urging that there was only one practical way we could get pretty well all we wanted: to become a fully independent country, freeing ourselves from three-quarters of the EU's laws, while continuing to enjoy "frictionless" trade. And also leaving us free to sign trade deals across the world, and even to exercise some control over EU immigration. This was to remain in the wider European Economic Area (EEA) by rejoining Norway in the European Free Trade Association. This could have solved virtually all the problems that have proved so intractable, including the Irish border."

Christopher Booker, The Telegraph