President Trump said Monday that a pending deal with China that sees the trade giant buy more U.S. agricultural goods will be a major improvement for U.S. farmers.

“China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products - would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years!”



China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products - would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018



“On China, Barriers and Tariffs to come down for first time," he added in a second tweet.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration said it would seek a broad trade deal with China and drop its threat of tariffs on Chinese goods while the details are being worked out. The U.S. said China has agreed to "significantly increase" its import of U.S. goods, although there's no final deal yet, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said a final agreement would take "a while." The U.S. threatened tariffs over China's failure to protect intellectual property rights.

Trump also responded to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who warned Trump to stay focused on improved IPR protections, and not to trade that for more market access for other sectors of the U.S. economy.

“.@realDonaldTrump: Don’t let Pres. Xi play you. Trading some short-term purchases of American goods & giving up on China’s theft of American intellectual property (which are our family jewels that will create millions of good paying jobs) is the art of a bad deal. Stand strong," Schumer tweeted.

Trump said he and Schumer agree on IPR, but also noted that he's making progress with China while President Obama did nothing.

“I ask Senator Chuck Schumer, why didn’t President Obama & the Democrats do something about Trade with China, including Theft of Intellectual Property etc.? They did NOTHING! With that being said, Chuck & I have long agreed on this issue! Fair Trade, plus, with China will happen!”

