Vilsack on Chinese Ag Purchases Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the Biden Administration will be pushing China to meet its commitments in the Phase One Trade Deal it signed with the U.S.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says it’s important that Ambassador Tai press China to meet those obligations …
VILSACK … “As you know, there are two general aspects to phase one: one, in which the Chinese made agreements or promised to take 57 steps, if you will, focused on sanitary and phytosanitary non-tariff related issues that impacted affect trade. The Chinese were pretty aggressive at the outset with the Phase One agreement in terms of compliance. They met roughly 50 of the 57 items that they agreed, but there are seven still very large items that have yet to be resolved and yet to be completed by the Chinese, not the least of which is biotechnology trade approvals.”
Vilsack says China is also well behind in purchasing its commitment to U.S. ag commodities …
VILSACK … “While it's true that the Chinese have made significant purchases recently, now just getting back and perhaps just a bit above where they were before the trade war. The reality is that they're still about $5 billion short of the amount of purchasing under phase one that they agreed to make, and that, I think, is important that we again continue to press the Chinese for compliance with phase one. If you reach an agreement, we want to make sure that there's performance behind that agreement.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the importance of China fulfilling its obligations to buy more U.S. ag products.
