China Signals Agricultural Trade Thaw After Trump-Xi Summit

China’s commerce ministry signaled a potential thaw in agricultural trade on Saturday. CNBC reported that Beijing and Washington have agreed in principle to lower farm tariffs and address non-tariff market barriers following this week’s Trump-Xi summit in Beijing.

Preliminary Deals on China Farm Tariffs

Both governments described the agreements as preliminary, with the commerce ministry pledging to finalize specifics as quickly as possible. The ministry said the two sides would pursue reciprocal tariff reductions across a broad range of goods to encourage two-way trade. No individual products or precise duty levels were named in the ministry’s statement.

Market participants, however, are already anticipating a 10-percentage-point reduction in soybean levies. Such a cut would let private Chinese crushers resume purchases they had largely abandoned during last year’s U.S. harvest season. During that period, only state-linked crop traders remained active buyers. Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting, said tariff relief would normalize commercial trade flows and allow private buyers back into the market.

A Relationship Strained by Years of Tit-for-Tat Duties

The backdrop to Saturday’s announcement is a sharp deterioration in bilateral farm trade. An additional 10% levy still applies to Chinese imports of U.S. agricultural goods. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, farm trade collapsed 65.7% year-on-year to just $8.4 billion in 2025 as successive rounds of retaliatory tariffs squeezed both sides.

Beijing did reopen some purchases after an October meeting between the two governments. China fulfilled a stated commitment to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by late February. Additional U.S. wheat and sorghum cargoes also moved through the channel, offering a partial reopening before this week’s summit.

Beef and Poultry Access Also on the Agenda

Beyond grains, both governments agreed to make substantive progress on non-tariff barriers. China moved quickly on that front. On Friday, Beijing granted five-year registration extensions to 425 U.S. beef processing facilities that had been effectively locked out after their previous registrations expired. It also issued fresh five-year approvals to 77 additional U.S. plants.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated expectations are substantial. He said the U.S. anticipates China will purchase tens of billions of dollars worth of American farm products over the next three years, though neither side has published binding figures on volumes or product categories.

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