China Resumes Buying Soybeans

Almost a month after the United States announced a trade deal with China that included promises by China to resume buying U.S. soybeans, Reuters reported on November 21 that two cargo vessels were headed for grain port terminals near New Orleans to load the first U.S. soybean shipments to China since May.

A third vessel was en route to a Texas Gulf Coast grain terminal to be loaded with China-bound U.S. sorghum in what will be the first American shipment of the feed grain to China since mid-March, according to shipping schedules seen by Reuters.

After the trade deal, White House officials announced that China agreed to buy at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of 2025 and at least 25 million metric tons annually through 2028, as well as a smaller amount of sorghum by the end of the year, but those figures were not immediately confirmed by Chinese sources.

China also agreed to halt the flow of precursors used to make fentanyl into the United States, eliminate China’s current and proposed export controls on rare earth elements and other critical minerals and end Chinese retaliation against U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and other major U.S. companies.

For its part, the U.S. agreed to further extend the expiration of certain Section 301 tariff exclusions, currently due to expire at the end of November, until November 10, 2026. It also suspended for one year its investigation into China’s promotion of its maritime and shipbuilding sector while continuing partnerships with South Korea and Japan.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told ag press outlets that China has purchased nearly 1.5 million metric tons of soybeans from the United States, although the early trade announcements were closer to 332,000 metric tons.