Overview
Officials from China and the United States announced an initial agreement to broaden agricultural trade by cutting tariffs and addressing market access and non-tariff barriers, China’s commerce ministry said after a summit in Beijing earlier this week. The ministry described the measures as "preliminary" and said they would be "finalised as soon as possible."
Trade levels and current levies
The ministry reiterated that China’s farm imports from the U.S. still face an additional 10% levy that was applied after last year’s rounds of reciprocal tariffs. Those duties were a key factor in a steep decline in bilateral farm trade, which fell 65.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in 2025, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data cited by Chinese officials.
Scope and next steps
While Chinese authorities said both sides intend to promote two-way trade in a variety of goods - including agricultural products - through reciprocal tariff reductions, they did not identify specific products covered by the potential cuts. The commerce ministry said the sides agreed to "resolve or make substantive progress" on non-tariff barriers and market access obstacles as part of this effort.
Recent purchasing and commodity flows
China resumed buying some U.S. farm goods after an October meeting, and in doing so met a U.S.-stated commitment to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans by the end of February. Authorities reported additional purchases as well, including some U.S. wheat cargoes and large volumes of sorghum.
Market commentators are watching for a potential 10% cut in soybean tariffs, a move that could allow private Chinese crushers to re-enter procurement. During last year’s U.S. harvest, private crushers were largely sidelined and state crop traders became the dominant buyers.
"Tariff reductions on agricultural products would mark a normalization of China-U.S. farm trade, allowing commercial buyers to re-enter the market," said Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting.
Regulatory and registration developments
On the regulatory front, China said it will address U.S. concerns over registration of beef processing facilities and the export of poultry from certain U.S. states. In a concrete step, Beijing granted five-year registration extensions to 425 U.S. beef plants whose registrations had lapsed last year, and it approved new five-year registrations for 77 additional U.S. facilities. These actions reverse restrictions that had largely shut those plants out of the Chinese market.
U.S. expectations on future purchases
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday that the U.S. expects China to buy "double-digit billions" of dollars' worth of U.S. farm goods over the next three years. Neither side, however, has released detailed information on which products, the exact values or the volumes that would be involved.
Implications
The statements signal a potential easing of trade frictions that had sharply curtailed cross-border agricultural flows, but the arrangements remain preliminary and lack detailed product, price or volume schedules. Observers will watch for finalised agreements and concrete implementation steps from both sides.