The US is going to be able to re-start exporting beef products to China thanks to a new business agreement signed by President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping.
The move follows talks held by the presidents in the US last month and covers new agreements to renew trading activity across a raft of business areas including agriculture, financial services, investment and energy.
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China is to allow imports of US beef “on conditions consistent with international food safety and animal health standards and consistent with the 1999 Agricultural Cooperation Agreement”, the US Department of Commerce said. Beef should be allowed into China no later than 16 July.
In return, the US’s Department of Commerce has confirmed it is also in talks to “resolve outstanding issues” over the import of cooked poultry from China into the US. It has pledged to come up with a timetable by which Chinese chicken can be imported by 16 July.
The move to allow beef back in to China has been widely welcomed by the US beef industry. Craig Eden, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement: “After being locked out of the world’s largest market for 13 years, we strongly welcome the announcement that an agreement has been made to restore US beef exports to China.”
He added: “It’s impossible to overstate how beneficial this will be for America’s cattle producers, and the Trump administration deserves a lot of credit for getting this achieved. We look forward to providing nearly 1.4 billion new customers in China with the same safe and delicious US beef that we feed our families.”
Eden even said he looked “forward to the day when we can serve President Trump and President Xi a dry-aged American-made New York strip in Beijing”.
The Presidential Summit between Trump and Xi marks a turnaround in political, business, and economic relations between the US and China. Both sides have agreed to a 100-day action plan to ensure the agreed issues can be acted upon as soon as possible as part of a wider US-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue. This will be followed by a separate 12-month agreement to then build on further economic growth and co-operation between the two countries.
