With just one and a half months to go before the year ends, China still hasn’t ramped up purchases of U.S. soybeans under a trade agreement made with Donald Trump a few weeks ago.
After he met with Xi Jinping at a regional economic summit in South Korea, the White House said Beijing committed to buying at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans during the final two months of 2025 and buying at least 25 million tons annually in 2026, 2027, and 2028.
That’s after China hadn’t placed any orders for U.S. soybeans this harvest season amid the trade war with Trump, creating panic among farmers who had relied on the world’s second largest economy as their top export market.
Meanwhile, Beijing has turned to Brazil and Argentina for soybeans, which are also cheaper as they don’t face retaliatory Chinese tariffs. Now, China has imported so much supply from South America it has a glut of soybeans.
Yet another example of so-called “free market economics”. Amazing how the USA cries foul when China legitimately decides to buy soy beans from a BRICS country because of Taco’s ridiculous tariffs. Trump’s economic illiteracy is not China’s problem. It has many other partnerships in the world. If the west didn’t want the Chinese economy outgrowing it’s own then perhaps the greedy capitalists shouldn’t have outsourced their production to Chinese cheap labour. But capitalism == greed and exploitation, so no surprise. You’ve made your bed, now lie in it.
Like so many people with basic economic education, I was wondering for the longest time how Trump squared being elected on the promise to lower prices with his predilection for tariffs. I assume Xi Jinping did the same and decided American tariffs were all bluster.
Trump had to lower the tariffs on China before people started buying Christmas toys, regardless of soybeans. He may even have invented the help for the soybean farmers because he didn’t want to pay subsidies. Meanwhile, it’s not just that China is unlikely to buy soybeans from America as long as Trump is President, they’d be fools to.
Did anyone sign any contracts or is this article just talking about Trump promises?
Those export curbs cleared the way for Trump to lower his fentanyl-related tariff on China to 10% from 20%. Beijing has suggested removing that remaining 10% is necessary for it to reverse its own retaliatory duty on U.S. agricultural commodities, Suderman explained.
“Unfortunately, time is running out for the removal of that 10% tariff to make much of a difference in the purchase of U.S. soybeans, with cheaper new crop Brazilian supplies already booked to start arriving at Chinese ports in February,” he added. “The door hasn’t closed yet for U.S. soybeans, but we’re getting very close to that point.”
Yeah, I think that the article’s title and general framing misses an important point that The White House is the source claiming that China made those promises. Which, under normal circumstances, would be a pretty reliable source, but under the current administration is highly suspect.
Maybe they should grow actual food for the people of their country.
Like the US, right? That’s what you mean, right?
Yes that is what I mean.
