(Bloomberg) -- China intends to announce this month the first batch of U.S. soybean purchases where most, if not all, will be destined for state reserves, according to government officials.
The final decision will be made by the State Council or cabinet, said the people, who declined to be identified as the matter is confidential. Details to be decided include whether the volume should be 5 million tons or 8 million tons, if commercial companies should buy a further 2 million tons and be reimbursed for the 25 percent tariffs, the people said.
The decision comes just over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping pledged during the G20 meeting in Argentina to resolve the trade tensions that have disrupted global commodity flows. The resumption of U.S. soybean purchases will provide some relief to American farmers who have seen exports to the world’s biggest consumer plummet and domestic inventories pile up.
Ministry of Finance officials led a meeting last week to discuss the resumption of American imports, the people said. It remains unclear whether the purchases will be made this month and if the shipments will be taxed first and reimbursed later, or will follow a cut in tariffs, they said. China’s commerce ministry and the finance ministry have not replied to faxes seeking comments.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Steven Yang in Beijing at kyang74@bloomberg.net;Niu Shuping in Beijing at nshuping@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anna Kitanaka at akitanaka@bloomberg.net, Jason Rogers, James Poole
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