(Aug 6): China booked another flurry of US soybean cargoes, as the country makes headway towards fulfilling the purchase pledge made as part of a trade truce struck last year. 

The country’s state-owned firms bought at least another 13 soybean cargoes — or roughly 800,000 tonnes — on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. That comes on top of 488,000 tonnes announced by the US Department of Agriculture on Monday, which marked the biggest daily sale for China this year, and another 132,000 tonnes announced on Tuesday.

It brings the country’s total purchases for the 2026-27 season to about six million tonnes, said the people, asking not to be named as they were not authorised to talk to the media.

That would be close to a quarter of the way towards meeting the at least 25 million tonnes of US soybeans the White House has said China will buy annually through 2028. The target was announced as part of the trade truce struck by President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their late October summit in South Korea. 

The two leaders met again in Beijing in May, after which the US announced that China will also buy at least US$17 billion (RM69.54 billion) of US agricultural products annually over the same period, on top of the soybean pledge. The amount will be prorated for 2026, the White House said. 

The shipments are mainly for loading from September and will come from both the US Gulf and Pacific Northwest, the people said. The purchases come after a recent decline in prices, with Chicago soybean futures trading near a one-month low.

Still, even as agricultural purchases continue, US-China tensions have been rising again as both sides escalate technology and trade restrictions. Bloomberg has also reported that there are US concerns over China’s compliance with the trade deal, highlighting the fragility of the current détente. 

Beijing recently stiffened drone export controls and sanctioned US entities. That move came after the Federal Communications Commission’s ban on some foreign-made robots and power inverters and the blacklisting of more than 40 Chinese companies accused of using forced labour. 

Still, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry signaled Beijing’s willingness to keep relations on track. Trump has previously said that he expects to meet again with Xi in late September.

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