China agrees – The White House says China will buy U.S. agricultural products at an annualized $17 billion rate for 2026 and maintain that level through 2028, with renewed access for U.S. beef and poultry tied to bird-flu-free U.S. states. The announcement follows Trump’s Be
When President Donald Trump returned from a high-stakes summit in Beijing. the White House wasted little time putting a dollar figure on what comes next for American farmers: a trade deal under which China has agreed to ramp up purchases of U.S.. agricultural products to an annualized rate of $17 billion per year for 2026 and at that level for 2027 and 2028.
The White House said the agreement would restore market access for U.S.. beef and resume imports of poultry from U.S.. states that the U.S.. Department of Agriculture determines are free of bird flu.. The deals were announced Sunday. just two days after Trump’s return from Beijing. where he sought to ease the fallout on farmers from the trade war he launched last year.
For growers and processors already battered by those losses, the timing matters.. American soybean exports, once a major bright spot, had largely dried up as China cut imports during the trade war.. Farmers also have been absorbing additional pressure tied to the Trump administration’s broader conflicts: the war the U.S.. and Israel launched against Iran has curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade corridor.. The disruption has restricted global fertilizer supplies and sent those prices soaring.
There was an immediate gap in the public picture: there was no confirmation of the agreement’s terms from Beijing.. China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that the two sides would “resolve or make substantial progress toward resolving certain non-tariff barriers and market access issues” relating to agricultural goods.
In the negotiations described by the White House and China. each side pointed to practical bottlenecks that have made trade difficult.. The U.S.. said it would “actively work” to address China’s concerns about the detention of its dairy products. seafood. the export of potted bonsai. and the recognition of Shandong province as a bird-flu-free zone.. The Chinese side said it would “likewise actively work” to address U.S.. concerns about the registration of beef processing facilities and the export of poultry meat from certain states to China.
The talks also included an agreement to expand trade further. including farm goods. through reciprocal tariff reductions on “a specific range of products. ” though the specific products were not spelled out.. Under the same frame. the White House said the new arrangements are on top of China’s soybean purchase commitments last year.
The purchasing targets land on a backdrop of sharp contraction.. Data from the U.S.. Department of Agriculture show China’s imports of U.S.. agricultural goods peaked in 2022 with $38 billion but dropped to $8 billion in 2025.. Those totals include nearly $18 billion in soybean purchases in 2022 and $3 billion in 2025.. The numbers also show why the soybean component carries emotional weight for U.S.. farmers: it had traditionally been the largest foreign buyer of American soybeans.. China stopped purchasing U.S.. soybeans altogether last year after Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese goods.
It is not immediately clear how much more China would buy from American soybean farmers, even with the new announcement.. The latest agreement builds on an earlier truce Trump reached with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October. when China agreed to resume buying U.S.. soybeans.. At the time. the White House said China committed to buying 12 million metric tons in the current marketing year and 25 million metric tons for each of the next three years.
The White House said hundreds of U.S.. beef plants. including those run by Tyson and Cargill. would be able to export again to China. though it was not clear how much beef American companies would sell under the expanded access.. China allowed licenses for hundreds of U.S.. beef plants to expire last year, and the import value for 2025 fell to less than $500 million, according to USDA figures.. China’s purchases of U.S.. beef peaked at $2.14 billion in 2022, government data shows.
Poultry trade has followed a similar squeeze. The U.S. export of poultry meats and products to China was $286 million in 2025, down from more than $1 billion in 2022.
During the summit last week. Trump and Xi discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation. including expanding market access for American businesses in China and increasing Chinese investment into U.S.. industries.. The White House said the two leaders agreed to set up separate boards of trade and investment. though it offered few details on how the boards would work or how they would differ from existing trade dialogues.
The White House said the Board of Trade would allow the two governments to manage trade of “non-sensitive goods. ” and the Board of Investments would provide a venue for the two sides to discuss investment-related issues.. China’s Ministry of Commerce said the bodies would address respective concerns regarding trade and investment.. The ministry spokesperson added that. for tariff reductions. the Board of Trade would let the sides discuss issues such as tariff reductions on specific products. saying: “In principle. the two sides agreed to reduce tariff on products of respective concern at equivalent scale.”
Xi also said last week that China’s door of opportunity will open wider when he met with U.S. business leaders joining Trump on the trip. Among the travelers to Beijing was Brian Sikes, CEO of Cargill.
Soybeans sit at the center of the agricultural story.. Used for livestock feed and biofuels in China, soybeans have been among the top U.S.. agricultural exports.. Soybean exports to China in the past had accounted for about half of U.S.. exports of agricultural goods to the Asian nation.. USDA data shows the U.S.. exported 10.9 million metric tons of soybeans to China as of May 7. putting China on track to fulfill its previous commitment by the end of the marketing year on Aug.. 31.. That pace, however, is below the 25 million to 30 million metric tons China purchased in past years.
Before Trump’s initial planned trip to Beijing in late March—postponed by the Iran war— the American Soybean Association urged him to prioritize soybeans in the trade talks with Xi.. Scott Metzger. president of the association. said Thursday the group would like to see “additional soybean purchases this marketing year. as well as continued progress toward fulfilling future purchase commitments.” He added: “Greater certainty and consistency in the marketplace help provide farmers with the confidence they need as they make decisions for the year ahead. “
What links the new $17 billion figure to the earlier soybean truce is the sequence of commitments: the White House describes this agreement as building on last year’s purchase pledges. while USDA data show the market swing from $38 billion in 2022 to $8 billion in 2025 alongside a sharp pause in soybean buying after tariff hikes—setting up the current push to restore access for beef and poultry as well.
Trump and Xi’s summit also offered a separate path for talks through new boards for trade and investment. with both governments saying they would manage remaining “non-tariff barriers and market access issues” through working groups rather than only through tariffs.. For now. the only clear promise in public is the size of the target China agreed to for 2026 and the restoration of access rules for beef and poultry tied to bird-flu-free U.S.. states.
White House China trade deal U.S. beef poultry soybeans farmers tariffs bird flu Tyson Cargill non-tariff barriers