China buys first purchases of U.S. wheat in a year

6/11/2025 15:38

China has booked two cargoes of U.S. wheat following last week's meeting between the countries' leaders, traders said on Thursday, the first such purchases since October last year, signalling easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.



Investors welcomed the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, which helped ease concerns over the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies that had disrupted flows of goods including key agricultural products.



Beijing on Wednesday announced that from November 10 it would scrap tariffs that it had announced on March 4 for some U.S. agricultural goods. The move includes removing a 15% duty on U.S. wheat.



The purchases of around 120,000 metric tons for December shipment include one cargo of U.S. soft white wheat and one of spring wheat, the sources said.

China, the top market for U.S. farmers, has turned its vast appetite for U.S. crops into a powerful trade war bargaining chip.