U.S. exporters of agricultural products to China are optimistic that trade between the two countries will return to normal after a framework agreement reached last month by their leaders, according to several exporters and industry officials.
The mood this year in the U.S. pavilion at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), China’s largest import expo, which began Nov. 5 and concludes in Shanghai on Monday, is positive.
“I think people have a lot of hope,” Jeffrey Lehman, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which counts more than 1,000 companies among its members, told Reuters at the U.S. Pavilion, which hosted exhibits from industry bodies dealing with wine, ginseng, potatoes and more, and was 50% larger than last year.
“I think the reason they’re here is because they want to interact with new customers. They want to find new partnership opportunities, and I think they’re here because they think that’s going to happen,” he added.
The CIIE began just a week after a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea that led to a framework agreement to reverse a series of tariffs and export control measures that had been implemented this year, including some that had openly affected exhibitors of agricultural products such as soybeans and sorghum.
“We just had this successful meeting in Busan, so we’re celebrating, but we had plans to come even before that meeting. I think it’s important to note that we didn’t give up on the relationship, that we were working to maintain and continue to strengthen the relationship, even if there were some problems,” said Jim Sutter, executive director of the US Soybean Export Council.
China had avoided purchases of soybeans from the 2025 US crop amid rising trade tensions between the two countries, but has recently resumed purchases.
Mark Wilson, president of the U.S. Grains and Bioproducts Council, pointed to recent shipments of soybeans and sorghum purchased by China as a positive sign for future trade to return to normal. Before this year, China accounted for 95% of the U.S. sorghum export market, he added.
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At China’s largest import expo, US exhibitors hope worst of trade war is over
“I’m hoping that they continue to talk, because if they can continue to talk, hopefully they can work things out, because that’s what it takes,” Wilson said.
Despite the optimism of American agricultural associations in Shanghai, analysts say the latest trade detente achieved by Xi and Trump may be nothing more than a fragile truce in a trade war with root causes still unresolved.
U.S. soybeans still face a 13% tariff, which analysts say makes U.S. shipments to China too expensive for commercial buyers compared to Brazilian alternatives.
The CIIE was launched under President Xi Jinping in 2018 to promote China’s free trade credentials and counter criticism of its trade surplus with many countries.
But the exhibit has its skeptics, as the country’s trade surpluses with other markets have only grown in the years since.
China’s trade surplus is expected to surpass last year’s record of about $1 trillion, as exporters offset a drop in U.S. sales due to higher U.S. tariffs by selling more to the rest of the world, often at losses in the chase for market share.
More than 155 countries, regions and organizations participated in this year’s CIIE, the Ministry of Commerce said. More than 4,100 foreign companies participated, with American companies holding the largest exhibition area for the seventh consecutive year.
This year’s expo generated an expected turnover of $83.49 billion, a 4.4% increase over last year and a record, state media reported.
With information from Reuters
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