China to buy $17B in US ag products, 200 Boeing jets

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

China agreed to buy at least $17 billion annually in U.S. agricultural products through 2028 as part of a broader package of trade agreements announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.

The agreements also included what the White House described as the first major Chinese order for Boeing aircraft in nearly a decade, expanded Chinese market access for U.S. beef and poultry, new cooperation on rare earth minerals critical to advanced manufacturing and the creation of two government-to-government trade bodies aimed at managing bilateral commerce and investment.

The agreements could provide significant relief to U.S. farmers and manufacturers that have struggled with disrupted export markets, supply-chain uncertainty and tariffs. Still, several of the largest announcements – including aircraft purchases and some industrial agreements – were described in detail by the White House but not publicly confirmed by Beijing.

China’s agricultural purchases build on an October 2025 agreement in which Beijing pledged to buy 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually. The new agreement covers a broader range of products, including beef, grains and dairy, according to the White House, though U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday the final breakdown had not yet been completed.

The agricultural agreements come as U.S. exports to China have declined sharply in recent years. U.S. agricultural exports to China fell from a record $41 billion in 2022 to roughly $27 billion in 2024, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, as China increasingly shifted toward Brazil and Argentina.

Brazil accounts for about 70% of China’s soybean imports, compared to roughly 23% for the United States – a significant reversal from 2010, when the two countries controlled nearly equal shares of the Chinese soybean market.

The White House also said China agreed to buy 200 Boeing aircraft, which would mark the first major order from Chinese airlines in nearly a decade. Boeing confirmed what it described as an “initial commitment” for 200 aircraft.

“This included an initial commitment for 200 aircraft and we expect further agreements will follow after this initial tranche,” a Boeing spokesperson said.

Trump said aboard Air Force One that the order could eventually rise to 750 aircraft. Boeing did not reference that figure in its statement, and China’s official summary of the summit did not mention the aircraft agreement.

China’s Foreign Ministry summary also omitted mention of the agricultural package and a separate engine agreement Trump said had been reached with GE Aerospace. GE Aerospace did not respond to questions from The Center Square.

Beijing’s official statement focused primarily on the broader diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a “constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability” and said the Taiwan issue must be handled with “extra caution.”

Greer said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that details of several agreements were still being finalized.

The summit came as American farmers have grown increasingly concerned about export markets and financial pressures. Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies – a form of bankruptcy protection designed for family farmers – rose 46% in 2025 to 315 filings, marking the second consecutive annual increase, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

At an April 22 House Ways and Means Committee hearing, lawmakers from major agricultural states pressed Greer about export access and trade policy.

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said soybean farmers in his district “want their markets back” rather than additional government assistance.

“Farmers don’t want a handout,” Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, said. “They just want open markets.”

Democrats criticized the summit from a different perspective. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said Trump appeared disconnected from the economic concerns of workers and farmers.

“I would have thought he would mix it up with some of the farmers and factory workers and manufacturers that he’s been campaigning saying he would protect for the last decade,” Khanna said on CBS News. “And I’m saddened for them that he really was there with the global elite making deals with China.”

The summit also produced agreements involving rare earth minerals used in electronics, advanced manufacturing and defense systems. According to the White House, China agreed to help ease supply-chain shortages involving yttrium, scandium, neodymium and indium.

Trump and Xi also agreed that Xi would visit Washington later this year. The White House said the two leaders pledged support for one another as hosts of the Group of 20 summit in Miami and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China later this year.

Greer declined to specify what the United States offered in exchange for China’s agreements, describing the arrangements as balanced trades intended to expand mutually beneficial commerce rather than unilateral concessions.

He also said the administration expects to present Trump with options stemming from ongoing Section 301 trade investigations before the existing 10% global tariff expires July 24, though he declined to indicate whether additional tariffs would follow.

The Beijing summit did not resolve broader uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariff policy. Trump said tariffs “never came up” during meetings with Chinese officials, even as federal courts continue weighing the legality of his 10% global import duty and the administration prepares a separate round of tariffs under another legal authority that could take effect later this summer.