China plans to accelerate purchases of U.S. farm goods to comply with the Phase One trade deal with the U.S. following talks this week between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Chinese counterpart.
“During my meeting with CCP Politburo Member Yang Jiechi, he recommitted to completing and honoring all of the obligations of Phase One of the trade deal between our two countries,” Pompeo said in a tweet Thursday.
China intends to step up buying of everything from soybeans to corn and ethanol after purchases fell behind due to COVID-19 disruptions, said two people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
This would confirm the expectation cited by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in congressional testimony that he expected China to live up to their commitments in the Phase One deal and that their purchases of U.S. ag products – and other goods – would be rising soon.
Bloomberg reported that through the first four months of 2020, China purchases of U.S. ag goods were at $4.65 billion, well shy of the total of $36.5 billion in U.S. ag products China committed to purchase in 2020.
Another source cited in the Bloomberg report indicated that Chinese state buyers were being urged to make all efforts possible to meet the Phase One agreement terms. U.S. officials and trade sources have continued to maintain they fully expect the purchase commitments by China to be met and they also have reminded that China has also taken many actions on other trade issues that were covered in the Phase One agreement.
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