As part of the “phase one” of the trade deal between the U.S. and China to end the longstanding trade conflict between the two economic superpowers, Beijing is expected to increase its imports of U.S. agricultural products. However, reports showed that CCP is not willing to yield to Trump’s demands.
A top minister from China confirmed that Beijing is not planning to increase its imports of products like wheat, corn, and rice. Han Jun, the vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, confirmed to Chinese financial news site Caixin that import quotas for these products would not increase.
“[Translated] These are global quotas. We will not adjust them just for one country,” Han told Caixin, according to translations of his Chinese-language quotes in an article published Tuesday.
As part of the first phase of the trade deal, the U.S. is offering to scrap the new rounds of tariffs entirely and slash some of the existing duties by half, sources said back in December. The U.S. proposed cutting current duties on $360 billion in Chinese products by 50%.
Trump’s administration also wanted more agricultural purchases from China as part of the deal. China had committed to buying about $40 billion in goods, while the president wanted the figure closer to $50 billion.
Citing people familiar with the negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Trump administration is demanding China to purchase a minimum of $40 billion to $50 billion in agricultural products from the United States. This amount is significantly higher than the agrarian purchase made by China last year. Beijing bought a total of $8.5 billion in Agri products from the U.S. in 2018.
