President Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday morning to tout a weekend truce in the building trade war with China.
China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products - would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
He later added:
Under our potential deal with China, they will purchase from our Great American Farmers practically as much as our Farmers can produce.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Saturday that the U.S. had secured agreement on a trade framework with China that would increase that country’s imports of U.S. agricultural and energy products. The deal falls short of the $200 billion trade deficit reduction goal set by the president. Mnuchin, however, indicated that the framework could increase ag exports to China by 35-40 percent yet this year.
“We are putting the trade war on hold,” Mnuchin told Fox News Sunday.
The U.S. will put the brakes on $150 billion in punitive tariffs on Chinese goods in response to the deal. Likewise, U.S. soybeans and other products will avoid $50 billion in planned retaliatory tariffs by China.
The Trump Administration has not released any details of the framework nor given a timeline of when China will begin to increase U.S. ag purchases.
