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Progress being made in U.S.-China talks despite delay in announcing deal

USDA Trade Undersecretary Ted McKinney says progress is being made in U.S.-China trade talks even though a deal won’t be announced this month.

“We need a little bit more time,” he says. “We’re making progress- all of us across all these chapters, but we’re going to have to go a little past March the 30th to get this where we can confidently say we have both parties a good package.”

He says a trade deal will include enforcement language to hold China accountable.

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says China has agreed to make ag commodity purchases once a deal is reached.

“China has laid on the table some very attractive numbers regarding ag purchases, but we’re still in the negotiation phase and I don’t want to raise expectations if we’re not able to come to an agreement,” he says.

Perdue says enforceability over intellectual property and other non-tariff barriers would be good for agriculture and the U.S. economy.