The shipments could total more than 6 million tons of grain
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Some shipments of U.S. soybeans will enter China without any tariffs.
The Chinese government has authorized waivers to grain importers in an act of goodwill ahead of next month’s bilateral trade talks with the U.S.
The waivers could result in more than 6 million tons of U.S. soybeans reaching Chinese ports tariff-free, Reuters reported.
Some of China’s purchasing began on Monday with importers buying 10 cargoes of U.S. soybeans slated for deliveries between October and December. Those shipments could carry a total of about 600,000 metric tons of soybeans, reported Reuters.
The USDA confirmed the shipments.
“Private exporters reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture export sales of 581,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2019-2020 marketing year,” the USDA said in its Sept. 25 daily report.
Farmers should view these soybean purchases as a sign that trade talks are moving in the right direction.
“It’s certainly a positive move, as it means that progress is being made on (trade) issues, but when they do meet things could still fall apart, (so) we’ll have to wait and see on that,” Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics, told Business Insider.
China isn’t the only country making U.S. grain purchases.
Taiwan has committed to buying billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. grain over the next two years.
A large portion of the grain will come from Illinois.
“Illinois corn and soybean producers have cultivated a world-class industry with customers in all parts of the world, and this US$2.2-billion commitment is a testament to their dedication and hard work,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in a Sept. 24 statement.
The deal will include U.S. exporters shipping about 5 million metric tons of Illinois corn and nearly 3 million tons of Illinois oybeans to Taiwan.
Farms.com has reached out to farmers and market analysts for comment.