US Presses China on Imports Of Ag Goods

President Trump is pushing China to boost its imports of U.S. ag products by $25 billion, a dramatic increase from the current import tally of around $20 billion.USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said the two countries would need several years to ramp up trade to that level. USDA has been working on a list of potential ag products that China could purchase, with input from several U.S. ag industry officials who were asked about the topic.Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will bring the shopping list to China when he leads a delegation there to resume trade talks.USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service has been “intimately involved” with U.S. trade negotiators and will be included in a delegation headed to China led by Ross, Perdue told reporters. Perdue added that he’d like to see a wider variety of ag exports sent to China, such as rice, corn and poultry. “There's several commodities in that basket that we're capable of selling a lot more to China,” he said.Another area being targeted by USDA in talks is streamlining biotechnology approvals.“We’re also looking at non-tariff measures regarding some of the policies and protocols that restrict U.S. products of going in to China. That will be part of the technical discussions as well," Perdue said. Of particular interest are U.S. foods grown using biotechnology, such as those utilizing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).