US Expects “Double-Digit Billions” of Ag Purchases from China

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.”

Bessent Says Soybean Purchases ‘Taken Care of’

Reuters’ Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson reported before the summit that “U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the existing ​purchase commitment by China means ‘soybeans are all taken ‌care of,’ tempering expectations for a higher buying target from China, as Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Beijing.”

“‘And then ​soybeans, we have a very large purchase commitment from ​the Busan agreement for the next three years. So ⁠beans are really all taken care of,’ he said ​in an interview with CNBC on Thursday,” according to Cao and Jackson’s reporting. “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.”

US’s Bessent says soybeans ‘all taken care of’, cooling expectations for fresh Chinese buying https://t.co/8qKoo6UBXo https://t.co/8qKoo6UBXo

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“Markets are awaiting clarity on how China plans to fulfill last year’s pledge to import 25 ​million metric tons ​of soybeans ⁠annually through 2028, which would mark the highest level since 2022,” Cao and Jackson reported.

Unfair Trade Practice Investigations into China Should Wrap Soon

Agri-Pulse’s Oliver Ward reported that “Greer did not rule out the possibility of higher tariffs on Chinese exports. Most Chinese imports faced a 20% tariff rate in 2025, but the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s emergency tariffs in February, and since that decision they have been subject to a lower 10% global tariff rate.”

“China is, however, the target of two ongoing probes into unfair trade practices that could result in additional tariffs,” Ward reported. “‘What the Chinese know and what we’ve agreed [is] that there is going to be a certain level of tariff,’ Greer said. But he added that he can’t commit to a specific tariff rate before the investigations are wrapped, which he said should come in the next few weeks.”