Details Of Phase One Remain A Mystery For McKinney

The farming community has heard the term for the past couple of weeks, but what exactly is in Phase One of the trade deal with China.  USDA Undersecretary of Trade, Ted McKinney, recently acknowledged that he has not seen the specifics of the trade deal.

Many questions still surround Phase One.

Did that $40 to $50 billion of extra Chinese purchases refer only to agricultural and food products?

Was that amount to be one massive purchase, or phased in?

In fairness, you'll recall that the President basically said [Trump Quote] "We've come to a deal pretty much subject to getting it written. It will take probably three weeks four week or five weeks" to really put down on paper a lot of things that were conceptual," McKinney noted.

But regardless of the details of Phase One, McKinney said this is a positive for farming.

"Because I think the two sides are back to talking. And also you can never go wrong if they're talking about significant added purchase of AG and food products."

The USDA reports Chinese purchases have already increased over the past three weeks.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com