On January 20th local time, US Treasury Secretary Bessent, during an interview with Fox Business at Davos, stated that China has fulfilled its commitments to purchase US soybeans and supply rare earths, with the rare earth supplies proceeding as expected—a result he finds "quite satisfactory."
Regarding the recent export controls on rare earths imposed on ally Japan by China, Bessent adopted a posture of watching from the sidelines, suggesting that some remarks by the Japanese Prime Minister had sparked friction between China and Japan, but the US had not been affected.
During the interview, Bessent boasted extensively about President Trump's tariff policies, claiming these tariffs had forced countries like China to the negotiating table and even delayed China's related rare earth export controls by a year.
"This is a manifestation of American global leadership," Bessent elaborated, "He (Trump) was able to use IEEPA tariffs to negotiate on behalf of the entire industrial world. I believe this is very important."
Seizing on Bessent's high spirits, the Fox host then brought up the topic of China-US trade—"Taking this opportunity, I'd like to ask: what is the latest timeline for the highly anticipated bilateral trade agreement between China and the US?"
Bessent said he had just met with his Chinese counterpart negotiator the previous night.
"He informed me that just this week, China has completed its annual soybean purchasing commitment, and we anticipate the new year's purchase volume will reach 25 million tons."
"I also suggested they might consider buying a bit more, as President Trump always brings this up in communications with the Chinese side."
"China has fulfilled all its commitments."
The host then raised the issue of rare earth supplies.
"They (rare earths) are circulating as expected," Bessent responded, "The fulfillment rate is over 90%, a result I find quite satisfactory."
The host pressed further: "So there has been no halt in circulation, even for defense enterprises? Because I recall they attempted to do this with Japan."
Bessent then stated that some remarks by the Japanese Prime Minister had caused friction between China and Japan, but the US had not been impacted by the matter.
China has repeatedly emphasized that rare earth-related items have dual-use (civilian and military) attributes, and implementing export controls on them is an internationally common practice, entirely legitimate, reasonable, and legal.
According to a Xinhua News Agency report, on January 20th, He Lifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended the World Economic Forum 2026 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and delivered a speech. During the forum, He Lifeng also held talks as scheduled with US Treasury Secretary Bessent and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves, serving as the heads of the China-US trade consultation mechanism and the China-UK economic and financial dialogue mechanism respectively, exchanging views on issues related to China-US and China-UK economic and trade areas.
As China-US trade relations eased, the US side stated in late October last year that China had agreed to purchase 12 million tons of US soybeans before January 2026 and to purchase at least 25 million tons of US soybeans annually for the next three years.
China has previously stated that it is an important participant in global agricultural trade and will continue to uphold an open and cooperative attitude, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with global trading partners to jointly maintain an open, stable, and sustainable global trade system.
Despite the "all positive" picture painted by Bessent, the Hong Kong English-language media South China Morning Post described that away from the cameras and political spotlight, American farmers are far less optimistic. They complain that few agricultural products have been shipped, China's purchases of grains from Brazil and Argentina have surged, and much of their 2025 harvest has already been lost.
Bloomberg, citing sources in late December, reported that China is fulfilling its commitments, having purchased at least 8 million tons of US soybeans in 2025, but Chinese commercial buyers remain cautious when purchasing US soybeans.
Data shows that in 2025, nearly 80% of Brazil's soybean exports went to China, with export volume through November growing 16% compared to the previous year. Trade continued even in December, a seasonally weak month for sales. Brazil's upcoming soybean harvest is expected to set a record.
Analysis points out that the votes of the US farming community are a key chip that Trump is vigorously competing for, as he strives to prevent both houses of Congress from falling into the hands of the opposition Democratic Party. Should the Democrats control Congress, they would be able to obstruct the legislative process, launch investigations into his administration, and otherwise disrupt the pace of Trump's policy advancement.
Comments