China did make a series of record corn purchases in July, and in August made a record purchase of beef. Some analysts have said that Chinese soybean purchases are likely to hit new highs this year. The Trump administration has raised plenty of funds from its China tariffs — $64 billion since those duties went into effect in July 2018, according to government statistics. But economists say that most of those funds have actually been paid by American consumers and other businesses, not China, as the president insists. Chinese purchases of American agricultural products have been trending sharply up in recent months.

Source: International New York Times October 08, 2020 14:15 UTC