China Studying Ways to Speed Up US Ag Purchases, Report Says

China is examining ways to speed up purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, including a potential purchase of 10 million tons of U.S. soybeans for state reserves, according to an April 23 Bloomberg report. China, which is hoping to reach its commitments under the phase one trade deal with the U.S., is also considering buying as much as 20 million tons of U.S. corn, the report said, which would surpass the country's corn import quota. Discussions surrounding those purchases are still ongoing, the Bloomberg report said, and some Chinese officials have raised doubts about whether China should be helping U.S.’s agricultural sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on China’s own economy. Despite expectations that the virus will impact China’s ability to purchase U.S. agricultural goods (see 2002120043), the Trump administration said it expects China to begin fulfilling its commitments by this summer (see 2003040029), and has touted the progress made toward those purchases (see 2003240041).