The New York Times Sui-Lee Wee reported that “the White House announced in May that China would buy at least $17 billion a year of U.S. farm goods through 2028, with the target prorated for 2026. Soybeans were not included: China had already vowed separately to step up purchases from American farmers.”
“Yet in the first seven months of 2026, China bought only $3.9 billion of U.S. agricultural products, excluding soybeans, according to the most recent Agriculture Department data,” Sui-Lee Wee reported. “The amount was only slightly more than during the same period last year, when sales were at a six-year low as the two countries imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other.“
“The sluggish pace of China’s purchases could become a point of contention when Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi meet again at a summit this week,” Sui-Lee Wee reported. “During his first term, Mr. Trump accused Beijing of ‘letting us down’ by reneging on pledges to buy American agricultural products and called its failure to buy soybeans an ‘economically hostile’ act.
Bloomberg’s Hallie Gu and Erin Ailworth reported that “to fulfill the $17 billion commitment, China would have to raise US purchases at the expense of its hard-won strategy of diversification, cutting supplies from countries like Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Australia.“
“The broader hope is that Trump and Xi can cement their accommodation on agriculture, without getting derailed by thornier issues like Taiwan or artificial intelligence,” Gu and Ailworth reported. “‘As we look back over the last several years, we’ve had inconsistencies,’ (said Tim Lust, chief executive officer of the National Sorghum Producers Association). ‘It’s been really good at times, and it’s been really slow at times. So that’s one of the things that we’re hopeful out of this, that we get that more consistent trade volume.'”
China Confirms Xi Jinping State Visit from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25
Bloomberg News reported that “China said President Xi Jinping will travel to the US to meet Donald Trump, a visit that comes with a one-year trade truce winding down.“
“Xi will make a state visit on Sept. 23-25 at the US president’s invitation, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun,” Bloomberg reported. “… The trip will be Xi’s first to the US since 2023, when he met former US President Joe Biden during a visit that included attending the APEC summit in San Francisco. Prospects for an extension to the trade war ceasefire negotiated last year in South Korea are solidifying as the sides discuss slashing tariffs on goods including American energy and agricultural products.”
Reuters’ Joe Cash, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom reported that “White House officials have sought to downplay the potential for major breakthroughs (at the summit). US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng helmed preparatory talks in New York on Sunday aimed at teeing up some potential agreements on AI guardrails and trade in non-sensitive products.”
“That is a far cry from Trump’s vow when he returned to office in 2025 to use tariffs to address a trade imbalance with China that was ‘killing’ the United States,” Cash, Hunnicutt and Brunnstrom reported.
China and US Discussed Slashing Ag Tariffs Ahead of Summit
Bloomberg News reported in a different article that, ahead of the summit, “the US and China are discussing slashing tariffs on certain goods, including on American energy and agricultural shipments — a potential sign the leaders’ summit next week will lead to an extension of the one-year trade truce.”
“The meetings between the two sides are also likely to result in an agreement to lower duties on Chinese inputs for manufacturers, according to people familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg reported. “The moves are expected to be carried out under an earlier plan for reciprocal tariff cuts on roughly $30 billion in trade.”
