Wacker raises antibiotic-free, implant-free Angus cattle for Whole Foods. It's the kind of beef free of the hormones and pharmaceuticals China has balked at when setting terms for U.S. beef. Most ranchers in Montana can meet those standards now, he said, but when he's called meat packers inquiring about when they might market beef in China, there's no plan yet.

Wacker was pushing for market access to China loud enough that Daines contacted the Miles City rancher in April to see if he would offer up a few steaks for the Republican lawmaker's trip to China. Wacker obliged, and Daines showed up with a small Coleman cooler of Montana beef, using his official Senate trip to avoid customs. China Premier Li Keqiang accepted the steaks without protest.

Ambassador Cui and his cadre of emissaries were expected to stay in Montana for a steak dinner and complete it with Montana craft beer — Montana Grain Growers were courting barley sales Friday.

Saturday, the visitors will head to Yellowstone Park as Daines tries to sell them on Montana tourism.

After the business discussion, Cui and Daines both addressed China-U.S. trade relations in the context of the North Korea missile crisis. The question was posed by The Gazette after Cui had remarked that there should be no trade war, or any war, between China and the United States.