White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow indicated yesterday that US trade team could travel to China to restart trade negotiations. Meanwhile, China could re-start agricultural purchases soon. He said, “as I read it, it looks like there will be a trip to China and we expect, we hope strongly that China will very soon start buying agriculture products, No. 1 as part of an overall deal and No. 2 as a goodwill gesture.”
Kudlow also sounded positive and added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a lot of positive news on that coming up… I’m going to strike a note of hopefulness.” However, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sounded more cautious and said “I’m not aware that the gate has opened to any significant degree.”
Separately, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced new aid package to help farms hurt by Trump’s trade war with China. The government will pay a minimum of USD 15 per acre to farmers. He said, “we’re anticipating right now three tranches; probably 50 percent … or minimum there of $15 an acre initially.” The second and third tranches would be dependant on market conditions.
