U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a state banquet hosted by Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the Nice Corridor of the Folks on Might 14, 2026 in Beijing, China.
Alex Wong | Getty Photos
BEIJING, Might 16 (Reuters) – China and america have agreed to broaden agricultural commerce via tariff reductions and deal with non-tariff boundaries and market entry points, China’s commerce ministry mentioned on Saturday after this week’s summit in Beijing.
The agreements are “preliminary” and can be “finalised as quickly as attainable,” the ministry mentioned following U.S. President Donald Trump’s go to.
China’s farm imports from the U.S. nonetheless face a further 10% levy after final yr’s rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs sharply curtailed commerce, which fell 65.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in 2025, in keeping with U.S. Division of Agriculture information.
The commerce ministry mentioned either side intention to advertise two-way commerce, together with in agricultural merchandise, via measures equivalent to reciprocal tariff reductions throughout a spread of products. It didn’t specify which merchandise.
China resumed purchases of some U.S. farm items after an October assembly, fulfilling a U.S.-stated dedication to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans by the top of February. It has additionally bought some U.S. wheat cargoes and huge volumes of sorghum.
Market watchers anticipate a ten% reduce in soybean tariffs, which might enable non-public Chinese language crushers to renew purchases that had been largely sidelined throughout final yr’s U.S. harvest, when state crop merchants had been the one patrons.
“Tariff reductions on agricultural merchandise would mark a normalization of China-U.S. farm commerce, permitting industrial patrons to re-enter the market,” mentioned Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting.
The ministry mentioned either side agreed to “resolve or make substantive progress” on non-tariff boundaries and market entry points.
China will work to deal with U.S. considerations over registration of beef services and poultry exports from sure U.S. states, it mentioned.
Beijing on Friday granted five-year registration extensions to 425 U.S. beef crops that had largely been shut out after their registrations lapsed final yr, and accredited new five-year registrations for 77 extra U.S. services.
U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer mentioned on Friday the U.S. expects China to purchase “double-digit billions” value of U.S. farm items over the subsequent three years, though neither facet has but launched particulars on particular merchandise, values or quantity.
