05/18/26 Afternoon CommStock Report – China Favors a Market Economy…Who would have Guessed That?

What occurred at the Trump/Xi Summit? No one really knows for sure. The Chinese do not say. There are many interpretations…here is mine. It would appear China doesn’t want to make specific political deals but instead return to a system of commercial ones made by market conditions through a new entity called a Board of Trade. “The U.S./China body would oversee trade issues in sectors including aviation, energy, medical equipment and agriculture. U.S. Trade Representative Greer said the framework would seek tariff reductions on roughly $30 billion worth of goods.” $30 bln spread out over so many categories of goods may not amount to all that much for Ag. A White House Fact sheet says, that in addition to the soybeans, “China has agreed to purchase at least $17 billion of agricultural products from the US annually through 2028.” While there has been no confirmation of this agreement from the other side we will go with that number for analysis. In 2020 China had committed to purchasing $200bln in goods over 2 years from us and never came close. They bought next to nothing from us in 2025 and did not deplete reserves. There is currently no strong information that…