By Ryan Hanrahan
Reuters reported that “the United States expects China to sign up to buy ‘double-digit billions’ worth of U.S. farm goods following a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday.”
“Greer noted the 25 million metric ton per year soybean deal agreed last October and said the U.S. also expects to ‘see an agreement for double-digit billion purchases of ags over the next three years per year coming out of this visit,'” Reuters reported. “‘And that’s more general, that’s aggregate. That’s not just soybeans, that’s everything else,’ he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.”
“Separately, Trump said in an interview aired on Thursday evening on Fox News’ ‘Hannity’ program that ‘China will buy a lot of our farm products,'” Reuters reported. “It was not immediately clear what products would be included and whether soybeans would be a part of the ‘double-digit billion purchases’, but traders and analysts said they expected the existing soybean commitment to be part of the deal, which alone would be worth more than $10 billion.”
“Soybeans are the top U.S. export to China, the world’s largest buyer by far, and the oilseeds have played a key role in trade negotiations during the first and second Trump administrations,” Reuters reported. “Greer said China has been fulfilling its soybean commitment purchases and that Washington expects the bulk of further buying to occur in the later part of the year. ‘Double digit don’t mean anything but the word ‘later’ means China will not purchase old crop beans,’ an Asia-based trader said.”
Source : illinois.edu