Will this be enough to get the US side to rollback tariffs?
I pointed it out immediately when the news broke out but I reckon the narrative is now starting to gain more traction across news wires as more people start to realise that this is a sidestep to avoid a firm commitment on US agricultural purchases.
A tweet from CNBC's senior correspondent, Eunice Yoon, just moments ago:
"I had heard #China would announce moves to show it's buying US farm goods in hopes of getting tariffs lifted but not wanting to publicly commit to specific numbers. Nov US poultry ban, today tariff waivers for US soybeans, pork. Wonder if this is happening and if Trump will bite."
As I highlighted here as well, that is almost certainly the case. Risk trades may be taking heart that the news may actually mean some progress in trade talks - but is it really?
This is China's way of basically saying "look, we're not going to commit to $50 billion of agricultural purchases, but we will try to increase it from current levels". Can Trump settle for yet another vague promise from China?
As mentioned earlier, even this promise of tariff waivers is fuzzy as China said that it will be "subject to individual applications" and that there are no "exact quantities specified" on how much the waivers will amount to.
Hence, the real question is whether or not the US will accept such an offer? My take is that they won't because there is just no way for them to make sure that China follows through on the "commitment" and "promise".
