China restores soybean import licenses for US firms

imposed in March amid escalating trade frictions between Beijing and Washington. They affected the U.S. farmer-owned cooperative CHS, global grain trader Louis Dreyfus Company Grains Merchandising, and export terminal operator EGT. The halt on U.S. log imports was a retaliatory measure following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s March 1 order to investigate lumber imports. Investor sentiment improved after Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, easing fears that the two nations might abandon efforts to resolve their trade disputes. Following the meeting, Beijing lifted some of the tariffs it had imposed in March on American agricultural goods and resumed limited purchases of U.S. farm products, including two cargoes of wheat. Additionally, state grain trader COFCO booked three U.S. soybean ...