China restores soybean licenses for U.S. firms, ends log ban

China will restore soybean import licences for three U.S. firms and lift its suspension on U.S. log imports starting November 10, its customs authority said on Friday in another sign of easing trade tensions between the two nations.

The licence suspensions for farmer-owned cooperative CHS, global grains exporter Louis Dreyfus Company Grains Merchandising and export grain terminal operator EGT were imposed in March amid escalating trade frictions.

The halt on U.S. log imports was a retaliatory measure after U.S. President Donald Trump's March 1 order to investigate lumber imports.

Investor sentiment improved after Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, reducing fears that the world's two largest economies might abandon efforts to resolve their trade disputes.

Following the meeting, Beijing lifted tariffs on some U.S. farm goods it imposed in March and initiated modest purchases of American farm products, including two cargoes of U.S. wheat.

State grain trader COFCO also booked three U.S. soybean cargoes before the leaders met.

However, traders remain cautious, as a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports - including agricultural products - remains in effect, limiting expectations for a broader recovery in trade flows.