Todd Bishop
On October 11, US President Donald Trump met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Heshi at the White House and said that China will buy agricultural products worth between 40 and 50 billion U.S. dollars in less than two years. Trump advises farmers to hurry to buy more land and bigger tractors.
On October 11, US President Trump met with Liu He, the Chinese Vice Premier of the State Council, who was negotiating to the United States at the White House. Trump said that the United States and China have reached an agreement, but it will be completed in writing, which may take three weeks, four weeks or five weeks.
Trump said that the United States and China have reached an agreement on intellectual property and financial services. This is a huge deal for American farmers. China will buy agricultural products worth between $40 billion and $50 billion.
How big is this size? Trump said it would be 2.5 to 3 times the highest purchases in China so far. China bought $16 billion or $17 billion at the highest price, and will increase it to $40 billion to $50 billion. He believes that China’s current purchase of US agricultural products is about 8 billion US dollars.
Trump repeatedly said that China will continue to buy US agricultural products, when the agreement is signed, the scale will reach 40 billion to 50 billion.
Therefore, Trump advised American farmers to hurry to buy more land and larger tractors. He did not know whether American farmers could produce such large-scale agricultural products.
He said that this means that farmers will have to work overtime to produce so much. This is the largest order in the history of American agriculture, so far, 2.5 times the previous one.
Liu He confirmed that China has begun to purchase 20 million tons of US soybeans.
For how long China will purchase such $40 billion to $50 billion in US agricultural products, Trump answered questions in less than two years.
Subsequently, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that at the request of Liu He and the approval of President Trump, the US will not implement the plan to increase the tariff from 25% to 30%.
However, the issue of purchasing US agricultural products has not been mentioned in the Chinese version. The Chinese official media Xinhua News Agency issued a press release on the 12th, saying that the two sides had a candid, efficient and constructive discussion on the economic and trade issues of common concern. The two sides have made substantial progress in the fields of agriculture, intellectual property protection, exchange rates, financial services, expanding trade cooperation, technology transfer, and dispute settlement. The two sides discussed the follow-up consultation arrangements and agreed to work together in the direction of final agreement.
However, in a letter to Trump, Xi Jinping expressed his concern for Trump’s concerns. Xi Jinping said in the letter, “I attach great importance to the issue of agricultural products that you are concerned about. Chinese companies have recently increased their purchases of US agricultural products, including soybeans and pork. As some of the agreements between the two parties in the consultations are making progress, properly resolved It is very important for both sides to be concerned and to make positive progress in other areas.”
In addition, when Trump met with Liu He, he also said that the US and China are very close to ending the trade war. Trump also talked about exchange rates, forced technology transfer and other issues, saying that after the first phase is completed and signed, we will begin the second phase of negotiations. Then maybe the third stage, or we might finish it in the second stage. So there are two stages, or three stages.
Trump also said that he respects China very much and respects Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump revealed that he watched the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in great detail. “This is an incredible event.” Trump congratulated China’s National Day.
