USTR Says China Trade on Track, Disputes Reports of Slowing Soybean Purchases

Reports that China would be slowing or stopping its purchases of soybeans because of U.S. action over Hong Kong (see 2006010044) are inaccurate, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said. Lighthizer, who was speaking to the Economic Club of New York, Washington and Chicago by video on June 4, said China made $185 million worth of U.S. soybean purchases since that story was published. He said that coverage of the trade agreement frequently focuses on the purchase promises and neglects the structural reforms that were pledged, but that both tracks have been going well in the three months since the deal went into effect. “You’ll know what the score is before too long,” he said.

Lighthizer also talked about trade negotiations with the United Kingdom -- he said the second round begins in two weeks. “We have similar economies,” he said, and British firms operating in the U.S. employ 1 million Americans, while U.S. firms operating in the U.K. also employ 1 million workers.

“Agriculture is a very big issue for us” in the negotiations, he said. “We have the most efficient agriculture in the world; we expect to make headway there.”

But he said it's going to take time, and suggested it would not be as fast as the negotiations to rewrite NAFTA, which took a year. “Each of us has to wrap ourselves around the fact there has to be compromise,” he said. “But I feel good about us getting there.”