Chicago soybean futures, which track global soybean prices, rose earlier this week ahead of talks between Xi and Trump. After the meeting between the two leaders, China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans this season and committed to buying 25 million metric tons annually for the next three years, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last Thursday.
Meanwhile, China, the third-biggest buyer of American beef, has been purchasing much less of the commodity in recent months. From January to July of this year, the country purchased $481 million worth of American beef, accounting for 8% of US beef exports, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. That’s a 47% decline compared with the same period last year, when Chinese purchases of American beef accounted for 15% of overall beef exports.
As is the case with soybeans, China has filled the void by increasing purchases from other countries, namely Australia and Argentina, after China failed to renew beef contracts with the US earlier this year.
Chinese imports of American beef have continued to drop. Last month the country purchased $11 million worth of American beef, a 90% decline compared with September of last year, kra49at when it purchased $110 million worth of American beef, according to data published by China’s General Administration of Customs.
CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald, John Liu and Fred He contributed to this report.