Beijing on Friday announced it will reinstate export licenses for three U.S. soybean exporters and lift a ban on U.S. logs.
During the ratcheting up of U.S.-China trade tensions in March, China’s customs agency suspended U.S. log imports, ostensibly over concerns about forest pests. The same day, it suspended export licenses for three U.S. soybean shippers – Louis Dreyfus Company, CHS Inc., and EGT – again citing safety concerns.
In a pair of announcements on Friday, Beijing said it will undo both measures, beginning Monday. The announcement did not provide a reason for restoring the soybean licenses but said the log ban had been overturned “based on the evaluation of U.S. corrective measures.”
The move could pave the way for around $600 million in hardwood and $200 million in softwood log exports, if exports fully bounce back.
The announcement comes on the heels of a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last week. Since then, the U.S. has said it will cut its tariffs on products from China by 10%, and China has signaled that it will lower tariffs on U.S. goods and lift several targeted retaliatory tariffs applied to U.S. agricultural products. The actions are scheduled to take place Monday.
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The thawing in bilateral trade relations has seen some U.S. agricultural products that China had been snubbing begin to ship again.
This week, China bought U.S. wheat and sorghum and state-run COFCO placed orders for three soybean cargoes in the run-up to the Trump-Xi meeting, Reuters reported at the time.
U.S. officials returned from the sit-down between both sides in South Korea touting commitments from Beijing to buy at least 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans in the last two months of 2025, and 25 million tons annually for the next three calendar years. If China hits these purchasing floors, future purchases will remain, at minimum, near recent annual volumes.
Discussions remain ongoing and no agreement text or joint statement between the two countries has been publicly released, despite both taking early steps to implement the deal.
Other commodity producers are still hoping their industries’ will see improved market access in any finalized deal. Representatives from the sorghum industry, for example, are holding out for similar purchase commitments. While beef exporters want to see their own issues with export licenses resolved.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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