WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – China has committed to purchasing at least $17 billion in U.S. agricultural products annually in 2026, 2027 and 2028, the White House said in a statement released on Sunday.
The commitment was made during meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, the White House said.
The $17 billion figure does not include soybean purchase commitments made by China in October 2025, the White House said.
There has been a sharp reduction in US agricultural exports to China after last year’s rounds of tariffs sharply reduced trade, which fell 65.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in 2025, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.
China has drastically reduced its dependence on U.S. agricultural products since Trump’s first term, sourcing about 20% of its soybeans from the U.S. in 2024, the year before his return to office, down from 41% in 2016.
Confirming previous statements from the Chinese government, the White House also said on Sunday that the world’s two largest economies would establish a US-China Trade Council and a US-China Investment Council.
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The councils will resolve concerns about market access for agricultural products and expand trade ‘under a reciprocal tariff reduction framework,’ Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement last week.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington, D.C. and Curtis Williams in Houston)
