Trump, Xi meeting puts soybeans at center of US-China trade tensions

as president Donald Trump As China and Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepare to meet on Thursday, a soft-spoken U.S. export star will take center stage: soybeans. Modest crop, $30 billion pillar of US agricultural exportsIt has become a powerful symbol of economic interdependence and political tension between Washington and Beijing.

In short, soybeans represent the instability of the US-China trade war. Beijing has halted purchases of American soybeans following retaliatory duties on the crop in response to Trump’s earlier duties on Chinese goods.

China’s turn to suppliers in Brazil and Argentina is a move that underscores how quickly global trade patterns can change and how vulnerable the United States is. farmers There are diplomatic disagreements between Washington and Beijing.

CHINA TRADE FREEZE IS SQUEEZING US SOYBEAN FARMERS AS COSTS INCREASE, PROFITS DECLINE

What started as a tit-for-tat between the world’s two largest economies has turned into a symbolic and economic blow for Trump’s rural base, whose livelihoods depend on trade ties now caught in the crossfire.

The United States has traditionally served as China’s leading source of soybeans, according to the American Soybean Association. Before the 2018 trade conflict, about 28% of U.S. soybean production was exported to China. Them crop export It dropped sharply to 11% in 2018 and 2019, rose to 31% in 2021 due to the impact of demand during the pandemic, and fell again to 22% in 2024.

But some policy experts argue that China’s transition away from U.S. soybeans has already begun.

AS TRUMP AND XI PREPARE TO MEET, BEIJING IS QUIETLY SPECIFYING THE NEXT MOVES OF THE TRADE WAR

“China was always going to reduce its dependence on the United States for food security,” Bryan Burack, senior policy advisor for China and the Indo-Pacific region at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “China began signing soybean purchase agreements with other countries long before President Trump took office,” he said, adding that Beijing “has long been separated from the United States.”

“Unfortunately for us, the only way to respond is to do the same, and that process is painful and excruciating,” Burack said.

But for farmers thousands of miles away from Washington and Beijing, these policy changes mean shrinking markets and narrowing margins.

“We rely on trade with other countries, particularly China, to purchase our soybeans,” Brad Arnold, a multi-generational soybean farmer in southwest Missouri, told FOX Business. China’s decision to boycott purchases of U.S. soybeans “has had major impacts on our business and profitability,” he said.

AMERICAN SOYBEAN FARMERS FACE FINANCIAL CRISIS AS CHINA TRADE DISPUTE THREATENES THEIR LIVELIHOODS

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss soybean exports in South Korea. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

“Looking at renewable diesel and specifically biodiesel produced from soybeans, there are domestic uses for soybeans,” Arnold said. “Overall, it’s such a small percentage right now that you know it takes a customer like China to buy beans to make a noticeable impact. You can’t take our number one customer, shut them down, and find a new one overnight.”

That trust in China adds new weight to the diplomatic scene this week as Trump and Xi prepare to meet in South Korea. The two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit to be held in Busan, South Korea, and will have their first face-to-face meeting since Trump returned to office.

Minister of Treasury before the meeting Scott Bessent He said he expected China to delay rare earth restrictions and resume purchases of U.S. soybeans, calling it part of an “important framework” that both sides intend to maintain. Bessent also said trade negotiations are moving toward blocking a new 100% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has halted soybean purchases amid a trade war with the United States. (Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Reuters reported that China bought about 180,000 metric tons of U.S. goods in a possible gesture of easing tensions. soybean Ahead of Trump and Xi’s meeting.

Whether it signals an actual thaw in U.S.-China trade relations or merely a temporary reprieve, the acquisition underscores how deeply intertwined diplomacy and agriculture are.

Fox Business’s Eric Revell contributed to this report.