In an expansion of the US-China trade deal, Beijing has agreed to purchase an additional US$17bn of US agricultural products, World Grain reported, citing a fact sheet published by the White House.
Published on 17 May, the statement indicated that the recent US-China summit held in Beijing in mid-May had been more positive regarding trade and agriculture than expected, the 19 May report said.
Although details of specific grain commodities were not outlined, nearly all grain CME commodity futures rose on the day after the statement’s publication, with July soyabean prices and July soyabean oil futures rising by 3.1% and 2.4% respectively, World Grain wrote.
“China will purchase at least US$17bn per year of US agricultural products in 2026 (pro-rated), 2027 and 2028, in addition to the soyabean purchase commitments that it made in October 2025,” the White House said.
Brokered on 30 October, the trade agreement between the US and Chinese governments stipulated China would purchase 12M tonnes of US soyabeans in the 2025/26 marketing year as well as 25M tonnes/year for the next three years.
The latest agricultural trade agreement between the two nations differed in the fact that the October 2025 agreement was based on a specific volume while the May 2026 statement said the agreement was based on a dollar amount, Reuters wrote.
Trade between the two nations had been problematic and following US President Donald Trump’s introduction of a 25% tariff on all aluminium and steel from China in 2018, Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs on many US products, including several agricultural commodities, the report said.
As a result, US soyabean exports to China during the 2017/18 marketing year were the lowest in volume since 2013/14 and the lowest in value since 2009/10, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s October 2018 ‘Oilseeds World Markets and Trade’ report.
Overall, the 2018 trade war had cost US agriculture more than US$27bn, with soyabeans accounting for 71% of losses, Reuters wrote.
During his second term, Trump launched another round of tariffs on 2 April 2025, which led to a tit-for-tat between the two nations until tensions eased and the October deal for China to purchase US soyabeans was brokered.
“The most recent trade war with China over tariffs has had an enormous impact on US exports, particularly soyabeans,” Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow emeritus at the International Food Policy Research Institute and former chief economist at the USDA, was quoted as saying.
“US soyabean exports to China were down 75% in 2025 compared to 2024 (calendar year). We were able to sell more soyabeans to … other markets, but not nearly enough to offset the loss to China.”
