China’s purchase of U.S. soybeans falling short of pledge

By Susan Reidy for World Grain

China purchases of U.S. soybeans are only about half of what the nation said it would buy earlier this year, Reuters news agency reported.

The two nations have been locked in a trade war for months that have included steep tariffs and a severe drop in U.S. agricultural exports to China.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently said he would impose new tariffs against China in September.

China was expected to make large soybean purchases as a show of goodwill during trade negotiations, Reuters said. But U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Trade Ted McKinney told the news agency that China is falling short.

Beijing officials pledged 20 million tonnes of soybean purchases but so far, only 9 million to 10 million tonnes has been shipped and accepted, Reuters reported.

Weekly USDA data shows that China has made deals to buy 9,589 tonnes of U.S. soy in the current marketing year and 66,000 tonnes for the next year.

Those deals may have been in place before China’s Commerce Ministry said on Aug. 5 that Chinese companies had stopped buying U.S. farm products and could impose more tariffs, Reuters said.

Since its trade war started with the United States, China has been purchasing more soybeans from South America.