Tensions are once again buffeting the U.S.-China relationship.
Fortunately, there are two opportunities in the coming months to put the relationship on a better path: a high-level annual meeting this week in Washington, D.C., and, more importantly, a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.
The upcoming U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue will set the table for the Xi visit. Backed by both presidents and with interagency participation at senior levels from both governments, the dialogue is built to address the array of issues that span the relationship.
National security and cyber issues will certainly be on the agenda. The economic track of the dialogue will also be full, with a prospective investment treaty and macroeconomic policy coordination just two topics to be discussed.
The US-China Business Council (USCBC) believes that greater market access in China for American agriculture companies also needs to be high on the agenda.
As USCBC looks at the bilateral relationship today, there is a tremendous opportunity for American companies to provide effective solutions to address China’s need for high-quality agriculture products as well as their food safety challenges.
U.S. agriculture companies in China face numerous market barriers, from slow and opaque approval processes for new biotechnology products, investment restrictions in agricultural processing, to counterfeiting in both seeds and crop protection products. These challenges not only hinder foreign investment and trade flows, but also limit China’s goals for advanced food security and crop innovation.
China’s middle class is set to double over the next decade to perhaps 500 million people. Rising incomes mean greater demands on the food supply chain. This is an area where common interests should outweigh other concerns, with positive prospects for growing Iowa’s nearly $3 billion in exports to China last year.
Events like the dialogue and President Xi’s visit will no doubt focus on the challenges in the relationship. It is also important that our political leaders highlight the opportunities to provide mutual benefit to the world’s two largest economies. Expanding the agriculture relationship between the U.S. and China should be a win-win proposition.
John Frisbie is president of the US-China Business Council in Washington, D.C.