China's bought less than half what it promised in trade deal

In February, China promised to buy about $36.6 billion in U.S. farm goods as part of the "Phase I" trade deal with the Trump administration. But China is less than halfway to that goal as of October, with only two months left in the year, Chad Brown reports for the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an independent nonprofit organization.

However, Iowa State University economist Wendong Zhang said recently that China is buying large amounts of U.S. food, agriculture products and seafood that could total $31 billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year, which ends June 30. "The forecast included $11 billion worth of soybeans, $2.7 billion of pork, $1.8 billion of cotton, and $1.5 billion of corn," Chuck Abbott reports for Successful Farming.

Last week the Department of Agriculture predicted near-record farm exports of $152 billion in the fiscal year, based on expectations that the pandemic will recede and trade tensions with China will fade under the Biden administration, Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network.