China makes limited purchases of US agriculture goods after Trump-Xi meeting.

China – US – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – China has began minor purchases of US agriculture products after the leaders of both nations met last week, but traders are still waiting for big soybean purchases after the White House announced Beijing’s vow to buy 12 million tonnes by the end of the year.
China, the largest buyer for US farmers, has used its massive hunger for crops as a formidable trade war negotiating tool, generally shunning US wheat and soybeans in favor of other supplies following rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs.
Chinese customers have booked two cargoes of US wheat, the first such purchases since October of last year, according to two merchants, and a sorghum shipment has been transferred from the US to China, according to a US industry official.

The deals to import US agricultural goods come as Beijing confirmed on Wednesday that it suspended retaliatory tariffs on US imports, including duties on farm goods, although shipments of US soybeans still face a 13 per cent tariff.

The purchases of about 120,000 tonnes for December shipment include one cargo of US soft white wheat and one of spring wheat, the sources said.

Trump claims eight aircraft were downed during Pakistan-India conflict

“This is more of China showing commitment to buy US grains as US wheat is not the cheapest,” said a Singapore-based grains trader with direct knowledge of the wheat deals. “So it is more of [a] political move to buy these cargoes.”

On Thursday, Chinese state grains buyer COFCO held a soybean procurement signing ceremony during a major import fair in Shanghai, the head of a Chinese agriculture business association said, but no details were given.

The White House has said China would buy at least 12m tonnes of US soybeans in the last two months of 2025 and at least 25m tonnes in each of the next three years, but Beijing has yet to confirm those figures.

China’s decision to maintain a 13 percent tariff on soybeans makes US shipments more expensive for commercial purchasers than Brazilian cargoes, according to traders and analysts.
Chinese importers recently purchased 20 cargoes of cheaper Brazilian soybeans as South American prices fell amid expectations that US sales will restart, while COFCO purchased three US cargoes ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting.