Uncertainties regarding the so-called phase 1 US-China trade deal surfaced today. According to a Bloomberg, China’s purchases of US farm products wouldn’t hit the USD 40B to USD 50B level as touted by Trump under the current term. To achieve the figure, China would need to remove some of its retaliatory tariffs. And with that in mind, China would request same reciprocal action by Trump. As we noted before, the phase 1 trade deal remains highly unsure, at least until both sides have put the agreement into texts.
Earlier today, Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang confirmed that China has bought 320,000 tonnes of cotton, 230,000 tonnes of wheat and 20 million tonnes of soybeans from the U.S. However, it’s also noted by analysts that not all orders would be delivered to China this year. And there are risks that some of the orders could be cancelled if trade tension intensifies again.
