Senior Brazilian and Chinese agriculture officials are to meet in Brasília this week to discuss ways to expand Brazil’s exports to Asia’s largest economy, where demand for agricultural products is booming.
Brazilian government officials said that the meetings would focus on Brazilian exports of agricultural products, such as soybeans and beef, and “how to address the gap left by US tariffs”.
Other topics to cover are expanding Brazil’s harvest and accrediting Brazilian slaughterhouses for export to China, following Beijing’s recent rejection of 28 local plants because of technical and sanitary issues.
Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro and a Chinese delegation led by Zhang Zhili, the vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, are to take part in the meetings, scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
They will take place against the backdrop of unprecedented trade tension between China and the US. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump vowed to protect American soybean farmers – who often compete with Brazilian counterparts for market share in China – from his trade war with Beijing.
“Our farmers are GREAT, but because of their GREATNESS, they are always put on the Front Line with our adversaries, such as China, whenever there is a Trade negotiation or, in this case, a Trade War,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
