Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says China hurt his soybean farms

Treasure Secretary Scott Bessett said Sunday that he, too, “feels pain” over China’s refusal to buy U.S.-grown soybeans amid a trade dispute with President Donald Trump because “I’m actually a soybean farmer.”

Bessent’s comment came during an interview ABC News’ “This Week” Here he said trade talks with China over the past two days had led to an “important framework” that he believed would ease. American soybeans Farmers’ concerns about boycott.

Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this week.

Bessent is a former hedge fund manager whose net worth is estimated at: Forbes When “This Week” host Martha Raddatz was asked about soybean boycotts, she stated that “American farmers are really suffering.”

China purchased more than half of U.S.-grown soybeans in 2023 and 2024; this corresponded to approximately $12.8 billion in 2024.

But China stopped buying soybeans after Trump launched a trade war with Beijing earlier this year.

“Do you see any real light at the end of the tunnel there, could they allow soybeans again?” Raddetz asked.

Bessent replied: “Martha, in case you didn’t know, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I felt that pain too.”

Bessent’s government financial statement It shows he owns soybean and corn farmland in North Dakota with an estimated value of $5 million to $25 million.

In this statement, Bessent said that the agricultural lands provide him with annual rental income of between $100,000 and $1 million.

“I think we’ve addressed the farmer’s concerns, and I’m not going to get ahead of the president, but I believe that once the announcement of the agreement with China is made public, our soybean farmers will feel very good about what’s going on both this season and for the next few years,” the Treasury secretary told Raddatz on Sunday.