U.S. sales of Chinese agricultural products last year fell short of the goal of the first phase of the U.S.-China trade agreement

Data released by the American Farm Bureau on May 5 showed that the United States exported $28.75 billion of agricultural and related products to China in 2020, failing to meet the $36.5 billion procurement target of the first phase of the U.S.-China trade agreement.

Previously, it was widely determined that China’s purchases would not meet the target. The Biden administration previously said it was reviewing the U.S.-China trade agreement.

Under the trade agreement signed by the two countries on Jan. 15 last year, Beijing pledged to increase its purchases of U.S. goods and services by $200 billion over two years, using 2017 purchases from the U.S. as a benchmark, and China’s target for U.S. agricultural products is 25 percent higher than the record $29 billion it set in 2013.

Although U.S. agricultural exports got off to a slow start last year, sales to China picked up sharply in the second half of the year, and soybeans were the most purchased U.S. agricultural product by China, with U.S. soybean exports to China reaching $14.16 billion last year, up from $8 billion the year before but less than the record high of $14.88 billion in 2012.