Oct. 5 (UPI) — Soybean farmers could be the recipients of between $10 billion and $14 billion in government aid after China’s unofficial embargo tanked sales.
China stopped buying soybeans after President Donald Trump levied tariffs on the country.
Soybean farmers are urging the president to reach a deal with China.
“China is the world’s largest soybean customer and typically our top export market,” said American Soybean Association president Caleb Ragland in a statement on Sept. 24 after China reportedly bought 20 shiploads of soybeans from Argentina when that country said it would waive all taxes on soybean exports.
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“The U.S. has made zero sales to China in this new crop marketing year due to 20% retaliatory tariffs imposed by China in response to U.S. tariffs. This has allowed other exporters — Brazil and now Argentina — to capture our market at the direct expense of U.S. farmers. The frustration is overwhelming,” Ragland said.
China was responsible for about $12 billion in soybean sales in 2024, NBC reported.
“The soybean farmers of our country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying. We’ve made so much money on tariffs that we are going to take a small portion of that money and help our farmers,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
