Chinese companies purchased U.S. soybeans after the government issued more waivers for retaliatory-tariff free imports, according to people familiar with the situation.
Both state-owned and privately run firms purchased between 12 and 15 cargoes, or as much as 1 million tons, of the commodity, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Some of the cargoes will be for loading in January, one of the people said.
Beijing officials gave waivers for another 2 million tons in purchases without paying the extra tariffs, people said earlier. That’s on top of the 2 million to 3 million tons in waivers awarded last week. No one answered calls to China’s commerce ministry during the National Day holiday, and a fax seeking comment wasn’t immediately responded to.
The move may help lay the groundwork for a more conciliatory meeting between high-level officials next week in Washington, when they try to resolve the trade war. It could also boost President Donald Trump by shoring up support from American farmers, an important political constituency in next year’s elections. Growers have suffered from slumping exports to China as a result of the dispute.
