President Trump says ongoing trade talks with China could sharply boost its orders for U.S. soybeans. That was after Beijing failed to meet its commitments to buy U.S. farm goods during Trump’s first term.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he hopes to hammer out a deal with China that will quickly quadruple its soybean orders. That after extending talks another 90 days to November 10th. The president wrote, “China is worried about its shortage of soybeans. Our great farmers produce the most robust soybeans.”
Asked about the Phase I China agreement, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told lawmakers last month, “The Chinese did not comply with this agreement in large part. I’ve had a call with my counterpart. I communicated to him our feelings on this, that they have not complied with the agreement.”
They bought about $28 billion of the $36 billion promised in the first year of Phase I. But today, China has a ten percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. soybeans. Top House Ag Democrat Angie Craig, echoing the American Soybean Association, asked at a recent hearing why the U.S. needed a trade war.
“China represents 50 percent of the U.S. soybean market. I believe, it would have been a better strategy to go get these markets before you do an across-the-board trade war that decimates 50 percent of the market.”
But President Trump has now used tariffs to squeeze concessions out of top trade partners like Japan, Australia, the EU, and the UK, and hopes to do the same with China.
