Friday, February 01, 2019

China agrees to buy more soybeans, other U.S. products

After two days of trade talks in Washington, D.C., ended Thursday, China promised to buy more U.S. exports of agricultural products, services, and industrial products.

Of particular interest to American farmers, China agreed to buy another 5 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, though it's not clear when that will happen — or whether the soybean purchases China made in December are part of that number. "The commitment means China will significantly ramp up its U.S. soy purchases after several medium-size sales in December — though less significantly than indicated by initial reports that China would buy 5 million tons per day," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico.

President Trump said he will meet with President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this month to seal a deal to end the trade war, though he repeated that March 1 is a "hard deadline," McCrimmon reports.

"Negotiators have until March 1 to come to an agreement or tariffs on more than $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would rise to 25 percent from their current level of 10 percent, Trump said. China would likely retaliate with trade barriers of its own," Tony Dreibus reports for Successful Farming.

Prices on soybeans, corn and wheat rose overnight following news of the trade talks.

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