Crop Prices Surge on Prospect of Trade Truce with China

It’s a “tremendous deal for the farmers,”

President Trump

Bloomberg reported Friday that soybean futures had jumped to the highest in more than three months, while corn extended gains, on news that the U.S. and China reached a partial agreement in the trade war that could lay the groundwork for a broader deal.

China would agree to some agriculture concessions as part of the deal while the U.S. would offer tariff relief, according to people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. has come to a “very substantial phase one deal” with China in the high-stakes trade negotiations between the two economic superpowers, President Donald Trump said Friday.

“Phase two will start almost immediately” after the first phase is signed, Trump said in the Oval Office alongside Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

The first portion of the trade deal will be written over the next three weeks, Trump said. It will address intellectual property and financial services concerns, along with purchases of about $40 to $50 billion worth of agricultural products by China, Trump said.

It’s a “tremendous deal for the farmers,” Trump said.