WASHINGTON – China has committed to purchasing at least US$17 billion (S$21.8 billion) of US agricultural products in 2026, 2027 and 2028, the White House said in a fact sheet released on May 17.
The commitment was made during meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, the White House said.
The US$17 billion figure does not include the soybean purchase commitments China made in October 2025, the White House said.
There has been a marked reduction in US agricultural exports to China after rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs sharply curtailed trade, which fell 65.7 per cent year-on-year to US$8.4 billion in 2025, according to US Department of Agriculture data.
China has dramatically scaled back its reliance on US farm goods since Mr Trump’s first term, sourcing roughly 20 per cent of its soybeans from the US in 2024, the year before he returned to office, down from 41 per cent in 2016.
China will work with US regulators to lift suspensions of US beef facilities and resume imports of poultry from US states determined to be free of avian influenza, the White House said.
Confirming earlier statements from the Chinese government, the White House also said on May 17 the world’s two largest economies would establish a US-China Board of Trade and the US-China Board of Investment.
The boards will resolve concerns over market access for agricultural products and expand trade “under a reciprocal tariff-reduction framework,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement last week. REUTERS
