US 2020 farm good exports to China miss Phase 1 trade goal: USDA

CHICAGO: The United States exported $28.75 billion of agricultural goods and related products to China in 2020, data from the US Department of Agriculture showed on Friday, missing the $36.5 billion targeted under the Phase 1 trade deal.

Beijing and Washington signed the deal in January 2020 after two years of acrimony and a steep slump in imports by one of the biggest buyers of US farm goods.

The missed target was widely expected. US President Joe Biden's administration has said the deal is under review along with other national security measures.

The Phase 1 trade agreement came after a nearly 18-month trade war in which US and Chinese goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars were hit by tit-for-tat tariffs, slowing commerce between the world's two largest economies.

Under the deal, Beijing promised to boost purchases of US agricultural and manufactured goods, energy and services by $200 billion above 2017 levels over two years.

Analysts at the time expressed reservations about the farm goods target, which was 25% above 2013's all-time high of $29 billion.

Total exports of farm goods not including ethanol and forest products were $26.43 billion in 2020, the data showed.

Though farm exports started last year at a slow pace, sales picked up sharply in the second half, typically the key buying season for US soybeans, the country's top farm export to China.

The data showed that soybean sales reached $14.16 billion in 2020, less than the record $14.88 in 2012 but well above $8 billion from 2019. China customs data earlier showed US soybean imports in 2020 of 25.89 million tonnes, worth $10.6 billion.