U.S. 'will not be bought off' by China soy deal in trade talks - Perdue

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will keep pressing China for intellectual property safeguards in trade talks, regardless of Beijing's pledge to purchase 10 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans in the near term, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Monday.

"Still, the structural core issues of intellectual property transfer have to be dealt with," Perdue told reporters after a speech in Washington. "We will not be bought off as a country over purchases without eliminating some of these non-trade barriers in China."

Asked about the time frame of the 10 million-tonne purchase, Perdue said: "That is near term. The impression I had, it is imminent."

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Peter Cooney)