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White House sets two-year target for China’s US coal purchases

The White House said China would buy at least 10 million metric tons of US coal in each of 2027 and 2028. The target appears in a US fact sheet issued after Xi Jinping’s Washington visit. Unlike the tariff recommendations in the same document, the coal item specifies a volume and two years. The statement gives no amount of coal already delivered under the pledge.

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A coal stockpile fills the foreground beside idle freight rail cars at an industrial terminal.

A separate purchase floor for each year

According to the White House fact sheet dated September 25, China is to import at least 10 million metric tons of US coal in 2027 and at least 10 million metric tons again in 2028. Those are separate annual floors, not one total spread across two years. The announcement followed Xi Jinping's Washington visit. Bloomberg's September 26 feed also attributes the pledge to the White House; it is not an independent report of coal already delivered by China.[1], [2]

The coal pledge joins the trade talks

The coal target sits in the US account of a visit that also dealt with bilateral trade. The fact sheet says the Board of Trade, chartered at the May summit in Beijing, became operational this week. Under that board, the two sides reached consensus on recommendations for more favorable tariff treatment covering 30 billion dollars of non-sensitive goods in each direction. The note presents those as other trade outcomes, not as a delivery schedule or purchase contract for the coal.[1]

Delivery terms remain unspecified

The fact sheet does not identify shipment months, buyers, sellers or a price for the coal. Its volumes are a US statement about two future calendar years. The 2027 and 2028 floors therefore cannot be read as 20 million tons of sales already completed. The same document announces a working group on agricultural market access, but gives no comparable implementation timetable for the coal purchases.[1]

References

  1. News sourceThe White HouseChina's 2027 and 2028 coal commitment is at least 10 million metric tons↩1↩2↩3
  2. News sourceBloombergWhite House sets out two years of US coal purchases by China↩