Donald Trump accuses China of ‘letting us down’ by not keeping G20 promise to buy US farm goods
- US president says Beijing had agreed to buy more agricultural products as part of trade war ceasefire
- But data released by US Department of Agriculture shows China actually slowed purchases of American agriculture products following meeting with Xi Jinping
US President Donald Trump is accusing China of “letting us down” by not promptly buying more US farm products.
“They have not been buying the agricultural products from our great Farmers that they said they would,” the president said on Twitter. “Hopefully, they will start soon.”
After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping late last month, Trump said China had agreed to buy more US agricultural products as part of a ceasefire in the two countries’ trade war.
The truce suspended US plans to impose tariffs on an additional US$300 billion in Chinese goods – action that would have extended the taxes to everything China ships to America.
Farm products cast a cloud over next US-China trade talks
Data released on Thursday by the US Department of Agriculture indicates that China actually slowed its purchases of American agriculture products following the G20 meeting.
China bought 127,800 tonnes of US soybeans last week, the equivalent of about two cargoes and a 79 per cent reduction from the previous week. Similarly, China bought just 76 tonnes of American pork, compared to 10,400 tonnes in June.
But Chinese official media said only that Trump hoped China would import more American goods as part of the trade-war truce. The two sides did not release any official documentation of Trump and Xi’s agreement, leaving confusion about how the countries would proceed.
“Our side expects China very soon to start purchasing American agriculture commodities, crops, goods and services,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on Thursday, noting that talks between the two sides are ongoing.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on the phone with their Chinese counterparts this week, marking the first high-level contact following the G20 meeting.
The American officials spoke to Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and Commerce Minister Zhong Shan on Tuesday, according to an emailed statement from a US government official who declined to be identified.
Both sides will continue these talks as appropriate, the official said, without offering more details on the next steps.
Associated Press and Bloomberg
