China won’t buy U.S. chicken in June, may fall short of trade deal commitments

China won’t be buying U.S. chicken in June, Reuters reported. The country had been buying the product as it began reopening, but restaurants aren’t operating at their full levels, said a U.S. poultry industry executive.

“China is out because they bought so much product,” said Lampkin Butts, president of U.S. poultry producer Sanderson Farms. “They were anticipating their economy reopening, which it has, but the restaurants are not back to anything close to normal.”

Late last year, China lifted a ban on U.S. poultry, part of an effort to compensate for pigs lost during the African swine fever crisis.

Economists at Iowa State University recently predicted that China will fall short of the significant agricultural commitments it made under the preliminary trade deal with the United States.

“We predict China will import $18.60 billion in agricultural products from the United States in 2020, far behind the Phase One target of $36.5 billion,” they wrote. They said that while there are some good signs, like attractive prices for U.S. commodities, “overall trade prospects are still quite uncertain and depend on COVID-19’s impact on various logistical channels.” Successful Farming reports that story.

There’s even more uncertainty now as protests flare in Hong Kong over national security laws pressing forward in Beijing. If tough sanctions come down on China from the United States, China may reduce its agricultural imports, Reuters reports.