In Washington DC, Transport Topics reported that US President Donald Trump predicted China would resume purchases of American soybeans after meeting President Xi Jinping, though a cabinet official said federal relief for beleaguered farmers will have to wait until the government reopens.
Trump said that the pressure he would put on the Chinese president during their planned sit-down later this month would end Beijing’s monthslong moratorium on U.S. soybean buys, according to the report.
“What happens with soybeans is we’re going to see more and more, I think, opening up,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “He’s got things that he wants to discuss with me, and I have things that I want to discuss with him. And one of the things is soybeans.”
The US government for weeks has teased a forthcoming aid program for farmers as a way to provide temporary assistance until market conditions improve, but Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signaled that a package won’t be announced as long as the government funding lapse continues.
“We’ve got to get the government reopened so that we can move forward on that, and once we do, we’ll be able to move out a significant program to help our farmers long term,” she said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
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Category: Food & Agriculture
