USDA data casts doubt on China’s soybean purchase promises touted by Trump
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — New data released Friday by the Agriculture Department cast serious doubt on whether China will actually buy millions of bushels of American soybeans as the Trump administration announced last month after a high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
USDA report was later published government reopened It showed that since the summit in South Korea, China had purchased just two American soybeans totaling 332,000 metric tons. That’s well below the 12 million metric tons that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said China had agreed to buy by January and nowhere near the 25 million metric tons she said they would buy over the next three years.
american farmers He was hopeful that his biggest customers would continue to buy their crops. But CoBank’s Tanner Ehmke, chief grains and oilseeds economist, said there’s little incentive for China to buy from America right now because they have plenty of soybeans from Brazil and other South American countries this year. remaining tariffs Keep US soybeans more expensive than Brazilian beans.
“We’re still not even close to what the United States has announced in terms of what the agreement will be,” Ehmke said.
Beijing has yet to confirm any details soybean purchase agreement but only the two sides reached “consensus” on expanding trade in agricultural products. Even if China had promised to buy American soybeans, it might have agreed to buy only if the price was attractive, Ehmke said.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the lack of purchases from China and whether farmers can still expect a significant aid package. Trump had previously promised.
China’s tariff on American beans is still high at around 24 percent, despite a 10 percentage point reduction after the peak.
Soybean prices fell 23 cents on Friday to $11.24 per bushel. “This shows that the market is shocked by the lack of Chinese demand, which is also confirmed in USDA data today,” Ehmke said. Prices are still higher than when they were selling at $10.60 a bushel before the deal, but the price could continue to fall unless there are significant new purchases.
Before the trade deal, Trump said farmers would receive an aid package to help them survive the trade war with China. That was put on hold during the shutdown, and now it’s unclear whether the administration will offer aid to farmers as it did during Trump’s first administration.
