Perdue: China Could Triple U.S. Ag Purchases

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue this week again said China could triple its purchases of U.S. agricultural products.  The U.S. and China are still hashing out the details of a trade agreement, now thought to conclude in June.

Perdue told Bloomberg Television this week "we could easily see, if we are able to come to a trade resolution, a doubling or tripling" of normal ag purchases by China over a period of two to five years.

China has averaged about $20 billion a year of U.S. ag purchases, before the trade war beginning last year.  As part of the talks, China earlier proposed to buy an additional $30 billion of U.S. ag products. Additional massive purchases of U.S. farm products, particularly pork and soybeans which China has targeted in the trade war, would likely be a huge boon for the United States.  China began "good-faith" purchases of U.S. agricultural products as the trade talks began in December.

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