Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/25/19

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set to travel to China on Thursday, the White House announced Saturday. A Chinese delegation to D.C. the following week will be led by Vice Premier Liu He, Beijing's chief trade negotiator.

TBD: There's still no meeting scheduled yet between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to be the final step in reaching a potential deal.

Positive signs? China last week bought 300,000 metric tons of U.S. corn, its largest purchase of the U.S. grain since October 2013, per Reuters. Pro Trade's Adam Behsudi has the details . Over the weekend, top Chinese economic officials said Beijing is ready to open the Chinese economy to greater market-based competition and imports, The New York Times reported.

Trade team changes: Clete Willems, the National Economic Council deputy director and a key White House trade adviser, is leaving the Trump administration for a private-sector job, POLITICO's Sabrina Rodriguez and Andrew Restuccia write.

Willems' departure represents a major loss of trade policy knowledge (especially on China). But his replacement, Kelly Ann Shaw, also has extensive trade policy experience from stints at USTR and the House Ways and Means Committee.