As Chad Bown notes, China only imported about half of what it would need to in the first half of 2020 to be on track to meet the phase one targets
Another way to put it is that U.S. exports to China this year are running below their 2017 (pre-trade war) pace, and the deal promised a big increase -- not a return to past levels
That's also true for agricultural exports too, even with big increases in exports of pork and chicken parts.

Rather surprisingly, YTD* exports of soybeans and cereals have lagged their pre-trade war pace.

*/ orders look a bit better, but it may be hard to make up for a weak q1
You can follow @Brad_Setser.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: