U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a state banquet hosted by Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the Nice Corridor of the Individuals on Might 14, 2026 in Beijing, China.
Alex Wong | Getty Pictures
BEIJING, Might 16 (Reuters) – China and the US have agreed to broaden agricultural commerce via tariff reductions and deal with non-tariff obstacles 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 doable,” 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 12 months’s rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs sharply curtailed commerce, which fell 65.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in 2025, in response to U.S. Division of Agriculture knowledge.
The commerce ministry mentioned either side goal to advertise two-way commerce, together with in agricultural merchandise, via measures reminiscent of reciprocal tariff reductions throughout a variety 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 tip of February. It has additionally bought some U.S. wheat cargoes and enormous volumes of sorghum.
Market watchers count on a ten% lower in soybean tariffs, which may enable personal Chinese language crushers to renew purchases that had been largely sidelined throughout final 12 months’s U.S. harvest, when state crop merchants had been the one consumers.
“Tariff reductions on agricultural merchandise would mark a normalization of China-U.S. farm commerce, permitting business consumers 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 obstacles and market entry points.
China will work to deal with U.S. considerations over registration of beef amenities and poultry exports from sure U.S. states, it mentioned.
Beijing on Friday granted five-year registration extensions to 425 U.S. beef vegetation that had largely been shut out after their registrations lapsed final 12 months, and accepted new five-year registrations for 77 further U.S. amenities.
U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer mentioned on Friday the U.S. expects China to purchase “double-digit billions” price of U.S. farm items over the following three years, though neither facet has but launched particulars on particular merchandise, values or quantity.
