Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Chinese firms set to buy U.S. soy
Waivers lift purchases to pre-tariff levels as trade talks near
China’s government has given new waivers to several Chinese state-owned and private companies to buy U.S. soybeans without being subject to retaliatory tariffs, according to people familiar with the situation.
The companies received waivers for between 2 million and 3 million tons, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. That amount would look like normal purchases in the absence of tariffs levied by President Donald Trump’s administration. In the 12 months through August 2017, the last full marketing year before the trade war started, the U.S. exported a total of 36 million tons of soybeans to China.
Some firms already bought at least 20 cargoes, or about 1.2 million tons, from the U.S. Pacific Northwest on Monday, the sources said.
Among the companies are state-owned buyers Cofco and Sinograin as well as five other processors, the people said. China’s Commerce Ministry didn’t respond to a fax seeking comment.
The waivers follow a meeting between workinglevel officials last week in the U.S. and come before top negotiators meet next month to try to resolve the trade dispute.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said late Monday that he expected talks on the U.S. dispute with China over trade and technology to resume the week of Oct. 7.
China’s commitment to buy more U.S. agricultural products is central to the talks, with Trump looking to shore up support from
American farmers, an important political constituency in next year’s elections.
Investors have been watching for signs of whether China will increase U.S. farm imports, viewing the purchases as a proxy for the outlook on trade talks. Global financial markets were roiled after Friday’s announcement that a Chinese delegation’s visit to American farms was called off at the request of the U.S.
The change in schedule has nothing to do with trade talks, China’s Vice Agriculture Minister Han Jun was quoted as saying in a China Business News report.
Beijing is willing to expand farm trade, and the two nations had sufficient and candid communication about agriculture in just-finished ministerial level negotiations, the report said.
Next week the Chinese political calendar is packed with events and holidays to celebrate 70 years of Communist Party rule. So there aren’t likely to be any major developments originating from Beijing until the week of Oct. 7, when Vice Premier Liu He is planning to go to Washington for talks with his counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.