With U.S. grain exports expected to fall more than 20% in the 2019 crop year, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Bunge Ltd. and Cargill Inc. are making less money buying and selling crops.

The U.S. and China are close to finalizing sections of the first phase of a trade deal that President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping hope to sign at a summit in Chile next month, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

President Donald Trump said China has indicated that negotiations over an initial trade deal are advancing, raising expectations the nations’ leaders could sign an agreement at a meeting next month in Chile.

The U.S. and China reached a partial agreement Oct. 11 that would broker a truce in the trade war and lay the groundwork for a broader deal that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping could sign later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump said the first day of high-level trade negotiations between the U.S. and China went “very well” and he’ll meet the top Chinese negotiator on Oct. 11.

In the trade war with the U.S., China’s tariffs have targeted agricultural goods for a couple main reasons: They make up a large proportion of U.S. exports to China, but also because they strike at the heart of President Donald Trump’s base of support in farm country.

BEIJING — China demanded Washington lift newly imposed sanctions on Chinese tech companies but said Oct. 8 envoys will go ahead with a U.S. trip for trade talks despite the latest spike in tensions.

Chinese officials are signaling they’re increasingly reluctant to agree to a broad trade deal pursued by President Donald Trump, ahead of negotiations this week that have raised hopes of a potential truce.

The United States’ merchandise trade deficit with China narrowed in August as exports rose to a five-month high, a possible sign of goodwill from the Asian nation as the countries try to resolve their trade war.

The European Union is weighing an aggressive new approach to its trade dispute with the U.S., signaling a willingness to engage in the combative tactics embraced by President Donald Trump and risking a further deterioration in transatlantic relations.