USDA has role at US-China trade meeting
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Krysta Harden will take part in the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing this week, says USDA. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew are leaders of the U.S. delegation for meetings Wednesday and Thursday on “the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas,” said a State Department official quoted by AFP. Lew downplayed the possibility of major breakthroughs at the U.S.-China Business Council last week, Reuters says. Officials will meet on dozens of issues.
In recent meetings with Chinese officials, USDA officials have pressed for speedier action by China to approve biotech varieties for import. Some 1 million tonnes of U.S. corn has been rejected by Chinese officials because it contains a GMO variety approved by the United States but not China. U.S. officials also want more market access for U.S. beef. While in China this week, Harden also is to visit Guangzhou to meet Chinese importers and to tour a soybean crushing plant and a denim factory. China is the world’s largest importer of soybeans and cotton.