America depends heavily on China to buy their soybeans, but Beijing is no longer buying.
Soybeans being offloaded from a combine harvester in Brownsburg, Indiana. Credit: Michael Conroy via AP Images
The Trump administration’s trade war redux has landed in America’s heartland. Chinese buyers have halted purchases of several U.S. agricultural products, prompting a crisis for farmers as the harvest season for soybeans, a major export, approaches.
Every year since 2020 China has bought more U.S. soybeans than all other countries combined, adding up to $74 billion in purchases over that time, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But this year the U.S. has not e
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from Andrew Peaple.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Agriculture has traditionally been a fruitful area for China-U.S. cooperation, dating back to the two countries’ resumption of diplomatic relations in the 1970s. Now it is just another area marked by Sino-American distrust, as Washington hunts Chinese agriscience “spies” and Beijing races to reduce reliance on U.S. farm exports.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OKPrivacy policy
