#China buys more American corn to comply with US trade deal

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A farmer tends to corn plants in Wahoo, Nebraska.
Nati Harnik/AP

China made its largest one-day purchase of US corn on record on Tuesday, its second massive purchase for the agricultural staple in less than a week as it tries to comply with its deal with America.

China on Friday increased its corn and soybean import forecasts for the current season, as the country is expected to step up purchases from the US.

The Agriculture Department said private exporters reported that China bought 1.7 million tons of corn for shipment in the 2020/21 marketing year that begins on Sept 1.

The sale eclipsed the previous single-day record sale to China of 1.4 million tons of corn, set in December 1994, according to USDA data.

The deal follows a sale of 1.3 million tons to China, spread out over two marketing years, that the USDA announced on July 10.

China also booked deals to buy 129,000 tons of soybeans in the 2020/21 marketing year.

In the phase one trade deal signed with the United States in January, Beijing agreed to buy $80 billion of US agricultural products over the next two years.

But relations have since soured, with President Trump blasting China for its role in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 3.3 million Americans and killed roughly 135,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown in Hong Kong, expanded military exercises in the South China Sea and tensions with Taiwan are among other flashpoints between the world’s two largest economies.

The two sides have announced sanctions on some prominent Chinese and US political figures in a dispute over abuses of the Uighur Muslim minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

But Trump has said he has held back sanctions on China over some of these disputes because of ongoing trade talks.

Overall, Chinese imports rose 3 percent over a year earlier to $167.2 billion, rebounding from May’s 3.3 percent decline, customs data showed Tuesday.

Exports edged up 0.4 percent to $213.6 billion, an improvement over the previous month’s 16.7 percent contraction.

Imports of US goods surged 10.6 percent to $10.4 billion despite tariff hikes in another fight with Washington over trade and technology. Exports to the States gained 1 percent to $39.8 billion.

China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first economy to start the struggle to revive normal business activity after declaring the virus under control.

Manufacturing is recovering, but consumer spending is weak. Forecasters say exports are likely to slump as demand for masks and other medical supplies recedes and US and European retailers cancel orders.

Trump said Friday that work on the second stage of a deal aimed at ending the tariff war is a low priority because relations were “severely damaged” by the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the pandemic.

The two sides signed a “phase one” agreement in January to postpone further penalties, but tariff increases already imposed stayed in place.

With Post wires