Todd Bishop
On October 16, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that China has begun to purchase large quantities of US agricultural products, but he may meet with Chinese presidents at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile in November. The agreement will be signed when Xi Jinping meets.
According to the news released on the White House website, Trump said that there are some false reports in the media that China will not buy US agricultural products until the agreement is signed, but the fact is that China has begun to buy American agricultural products.
Trump said that China’s procurement will be between $40 billion and $50 billion, far exceeding anyone’s imagination and expectations. This is a big deal for farmers.
Trump believes that American farmers, as well as many other industries in the United States, will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the US-China trade agreement. He also said that in fact, China began to purchase American agricultural products three weeks ago, which is good for both the United States and China.
However, Trump pointed out that the trade agreement with China may not be reached until the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile in November.
Trump said the agreement is now sorting out the text. US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join the discussion.
However, according to Bloomberg News reported on October 15, people who did not want to be named said that Chinese officials are willing to start purchasing more US agricultural products as part of the “first phase” trade agreement, but in the current situation, not too much. It may reach the size of $40 billion to $50 billion promoted by President Trump.
People familiar with the matter pointed out that China’s retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products made it more expensive for Chinese companies to import US agricultural products. Beijing will have to cancel these tariffs in order to make it easier to buy goods worth up to $50 billion, but only if the US wants to abolish tariffs on Chinese goods.
In addition, Bloomberg reported on the 14th that China hopes to conduct more negotiations with the United States before the end of October to determine the details of the first phase of the agreement.
