China Has Purchased 71 Percent of Its Phase One Target

The Department of Agriculture late last week announced China has followed through on 71 percent of its Phase One Economic and trade Agreement commitments. USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office says that China has purchased over $23 billion in agricultural products to date. Outstanding sales of U.S. corn to China are at an all-time high of 8.7 million tons, and U.S. soybeans sales for marketing year 2021 are off to the strongest start in history. U.S. exports of sorghum to China from January to August 2020 totaled $617 million, up from $561 million for the same period in 2017. U.S. pork exports to China hit a record in just the first five months of 2020, and beef exports to China through August are already more than triple the total for 2017. USDA expects 2020 sales to China to hit record or near-record levels for many U.S. agricultural products, including pet food, alfalfa hay, pecans, peanuts, and prepared foods.