A Bloomberg article last week reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping made a phone call to U.S. President Trump to reassure him China will meet its goals in the Phase One trade agreement.
White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudrow told Bloomberg that the Chinese government intends to live up to the agreement in spite of the impact of the Coronavirus on the country’s economy and people.
“XI apparently said it may be a little slower to purchase American exports, but it will get done by the end of this year and next year,” Kudlow told Bloomberg Television last Friday. “Xi admitted there may be some delays in purchases of American imports but reiterated that they would hit the goal of $200 billion over the next couple of years.”
The virus outbreak has claimed hundreds of lives and impacted the Chinese economy, where reports of rapidly rising food prices continue to make headlines.
Meanwhile, the reaction to the U.S.-China trade deal has been hard to gauge, mostly because of the lack of specific numbers in the deal regarding how many soybeans China intends to source from the U.S.
Plus, China will struggle with its demand for soybeans because of the impact of the African Swine Fever outbreak that killed a large number of hogs.
