WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — President Trump is preparing to travel to China for meetings in Beijing as lawmakers and industry leaders continue watching the future of agricultural trade between the two countries.
A bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators recently returned from China after meeting with legislative and executive leaders there ahead of the president’s trip.
Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas joined us on Tuesday’s Market Day Report to discuss the visit and the conversations surrounding trade and agriculture.
“Five members of Congress, five members of the United States Senate, Republicans and Democrats made a trip to China last week. We met with certainly important legislative and executive branch leaders in the country and our message was that there’s a bipartisan support for some agreement with China, that allows improvement in the trading relationship. All knowing that our strategic and long-term relationship with China has lots of challenges, but in the interim, can we find things that are beneficial to both countries, feeding China at the same time of finding markets for U.S. agriculture.”
In his conversation with RFD News, Moran discussed how President Trump’s meetings in Beijing could help American farmers at a time when many producers are already facing difficult conditions, including drought in several states.
“I think it’s clear that the president will work very hard to reach an agreement in which purchases of agriculture commodities from the United States is at the forefront of these discussions,” Moran continued. “This is a difficult time as I’ve seen in agriculture and we need to do everything we can to find additional markets.”
Moran says he believes Chinese officials appeared interested in continuing discussions with the United States, though he noted broader issues between the two countries will likely remain part of the conversation beyond agricultural trade.
