Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and US President Donald Trump attend their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Chinese trade negotiators had a sudden change of plans Friday, canceling a visit to meet U.S. farmers in Montana after they wrapped trade talks in Washington this week.
The Chinese delegation has changed its travel schedule and is headed back to China earlier than planned, according to Nicole Rolf, the Montana Farm Bureau Federation’s director of national affairs. There was no explanation as to why they were cutting their trip short, Rolf said.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue confirmed just yesterday the meetings were in the works as a way for China to build goodwill with American farmers.
The Chinese delegation, led by Vice Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun, had planned follow-on visits to Bozeman, Montana, and Omaha, Nebraska, CNBC previously reported.
The cancellation put a damper on hopes that China would restart purchasing U.S. agricultural goods, which it had halted in April in retaliation against President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
China made up $5.9 billion in U.S. farm product exports in 2018, according to the U.S. Census. It’s the world’s top buyer of soybeans and purchased roughly 60% of U.S. soybean exports last year.
