Foreign media reported that China additionally bought 840,000 tons of U.S. soybeans as a follow-up to the U.S.-China summit held on the 17th of last month. However, the amount China has purchased so far falls far short of previous years, and China ultimately did not fulfill its pledge to buy U.S. soybeans during the first trade conflict, raising concerns that this promise may again remain a declaration.

Soybeans harvested in Ohio in the United States are discarded because they cannot be sold. /Courtesy of Reuters Yonhap

On the 17th, Reuters, citing multiple traders, reported that state-owned grain company COFCO Group bought at least 840,000 tons of U.S. soybeans that day. They told Reuters that "if the transaction is finalized, the sales volume could be larger." This purchase by China is the largest since the Busan summit.

It also draws attention because it came as questions were spreading about the implementation of the bilateral agreement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report on the 14th that the actual volume of U.S. soybeans purchased by China after the U.S.-China summit amounted to only 332,000 tons.

However, while China has significantly increased its soybean purchases, it still falls far short of the previous level of 25 million tons annually. Combining the USDA announcement and Reuters reports, the confirmed total of U.S. soybeans that China has purchased after the U.S.-China summit stands at 1,172,000 tons. That is about one-tenth of the amount the White House demanded for this year.

The Associated Press said that even under the phase one trade deal the two countries signed in 2020 during the first Donald Trump administration, China promised a "large-scale purchase" of U.S. agricultural products, but it was not actually carried out as trade was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, told the Associated Press, "Without bulk purchases by China or government support, thousands of farms could close this year," adding, "We still hope China will follow through on its pledge, but the volume reported so far is small, making it hard to be confident."

※ This article has been translated by AI. Share your feedback here.