China has committed to purchasing at least $17 billion worth of United States agricultural products annually between 2026 and 2028, according to a White House fact sheet released following high-level meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The agreement marks one of the largest agricultural trade commitments between the world’s two biggest economies in recent years and signals a potential thaw in relations after years of escalating tariffs and economic confrontation.
The White House stated that the commitment does not include separate soybean purchase agreements made by China in late 2025. The announcement comes after a sharp collapse in agricultural trade between the two countries caused by successive rounds of retaliatory tariffs that severely disrupted exports. According to data from the US Department of Agriculture, American agricultural exports to China plunged by more than 65 percent year-on-year, falling to $8.4 billion in 2025.
China has steadily reduced its dependence on US agricultural products since Trump’s first presidential term. In 2016, roughly 41 percent of China’s soybean imports came from the United States, but by 2024 that figure had fallen to around 20 percent as Beijing diversified suppliers and strengthened trade partnerships with other countries.
As part of the new understandings reached during the summit, China also agreed to cooperate with US regulators to lift suspensions on American beef facilities and resume poultry imports from US states declared free of avian influenza. The White House described the measures as steps toward rebuilding market access and stabilizing agricultural trade under a reciprocal tariff-reduction framework.
The two governments additionally confirmed plans to establish a US-China Board of Trade and a US-China Board of Investment. According to statements from both Washington and Beijing, the new bodies will address market access concerns, facilitate investment, and oversee mechanisms aimed at reducing trade tensions between the two powers.
Alongside the agricultural agreements, the White House revealed that China would address American concerns regarding shortages of specialty rare earth minerals caused by Beijing’s export controls. The issue has become increasingly sensitive because rare earth materials are essential for advanced technologies including defense systems, aerospace manufacturing, semiconductors, and clean energy industries.
China’s export restrictions on rare earths were introduced in April 2025 as retaliation against sweeping US tariffs imposed during Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” trade measures. Although the two sides reached an earlier agreement in October 2025 intended to ease restrictions, the White House said exports of several critical minerals continued to face severe limitations.
The latest fact sheet specifically identified yttrium, scandium, neodymium, and indium among the minerals at the center of ongoing negotiations. Washington also expressed concerns over Chinese restrictions on rare earth processing equipment and technology exports, areas where China maintains overwhelming global dominance.
China currently refines more than 90 percent of the world’s rare earth supply and has built decades of technological expertise in the sector. Its control over both production and processing has become a major geopolitical leverage point in the growing economic rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
While China’s Ministry of Commerce did not directly reference rare earths in its own summary of the summit, analysts view the White House disclosures as evidence that the issue has become a central pillar of broader trade negotiations. The agreements suggest both countries are seeking limited economic stabilization despite continued strategic competition over technology, supply chains, and global influence.
The developments are being closely watched by global markets and governments worldwide, as renewed cooperation between the United States and China could reshape international trade flows, commodity markets, and geopolitical alignments after years of mounting tensions between the two economic superpowers.
