In a joint statement, the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR)
office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said China
had bought over $23 billion in U.S. agricultural goods to date,
or about 71% of the target set under the so-called Phase 1 deal.
"Since the Agreement entered into force eight months ago, we
have seen remarkable improvements in our agricultural trade
relationship with China, which will benefit our farmers and
ranchers for years to come," U.S. Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer said in a statement.
The deal defused a bitter trade war between the world's two
largest economies, but disputes over human rights, the COVID-19
crisis and technology have strained ties between Washington and
Beijing, raising doubts about the prospects for deepening the
agreement in a second phase.
Agriculture is one of the four areas where China pledged to
increase its purchases of U.S. goods and services. Many experts
question whether China will meet its overall targets this year
given lockdowns imposed earlier this year to contain the virus.
The report showed outstanding sales of U.S. corn to China were
at an all-time high of 8.7 million tons, while U.S. soybeans
sales for marketing year 2021 to China were at double the levels
seen in 2017.
U.S. exports of sorghum to China from January to August 2020
totaled $617 million, up from $561 million for the same period
in 2017, it said.
U.S. pork exports to China hit an all-time record in just the
first five months of 2020, and U.S. beef and beef products
exports to China through August 2020 are already more than
triple the total for 2017, it said.
In addition to these products, USDA expects 2020 sales to China
to hit record or near-record levels for other U.S. agricultural
products including pet food, alfalfa hay, pecans, peanuts, and
prepared foods.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Grant McCool)
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