American soybean farmers are worried about where they’re going to sell their crops and whether they’ll lose money this year because China hasn’t bought any for months
The leafy soybean plants reach Caleb Ragland’s thighs and are ripe for harvest, but the Kentucky farmer is deeply worried. He doesn’t know where he and others like him will sell their crop because China has stopped buying.
Beijing, which traditionally has snapped up at least a quarter of all soybeans grown in the U.S., is in effect boycotting them in retaliation for the high tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods and to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a new overall trade deal.
It has left American soybean farmers fretting over not only this year’s crop but the long-term viability of their businesses, built in part on China’s once-insatiable appetite for U.S. beans.
“This is a five-alarm fire for our industry,” said Ragland, who leads the American Soybean Association trade group.
The situation might even be enough to test farmers’ loyalty to Trump, although he still enjoys strong support throughout rural America. If no deal is reached soon, they hope the government will come through with aid as it did during Trump’s first term, but they see that only as a temporary solution. Trump said Thursday he is considering an aid package.
U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of trade talks between May and September, with another likely in the coming weeks. No progress on soybeans has been reported.
Getting closer to harvest, “I’m honestly getting worried that the time is running out,” said Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council.
After Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, China responded with tariffs of its own, which now total up to 34% on U.S. soybeans. That makes soybeans from other countries cheaper.
China’s retaliatory tariffs also hit U.S. growers of sorghum, corn and cotton, and even geoduck divers have been affected. But soybeans stand out because of the crop’s outsized importance to U.S. agricultural exports. Soybeans are the top U.S. food export, accounting for about 14% of all farm goods sent overseas.
And China has been by far the largest foreign buyer. Last year, the U.S. exported nearly $24.5 billion worth of soybeans, and China accounted for more than $12.5 billion. That compared with $2.45 billion by the European Union, the second-largest buyer.
