Posted on April, 23, 2025 at 08:39 am
China has not placed an order for US corn and soybeans since Jan. 16, four days before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Nikkei Asia reported, citing data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Trump, who during his first term as president sparked a trade war with China in 2018, has made good on his campaign promise to increase tariffs during his second term not only on Chinese imports but on products from many other countries as well. Trump has imposed tariffs of up to 145% on imports from China, which has responded with a 125% tariff on products from the United States and vowed to “fight to the end.”
The trade wars have cost the United States its position as China’s No. 1 soybean supplier. Brazil has taken that spot, and Nikkei reported that Chinese negotiators traveled to Brazil last week to hold bilateral discussions to further expand imports of Brazilian soybeans.
Although no longer China’s biggest soybean supplier, the United States still sends about half of its soybean exports to the world’s second most populous country. In 2024, China imported more than 27 million tonnes of soybeans from the United States, worth $12.8 billion, according to the USDA.
Soybean farmers across the United States applauded Trump’s recent announcement that most of the countries impacted by US tariffs would get a 90-day reprieve, providing an opportunity for negotiations. With the pause came a rate drop to 10% for each of the countries itemized during that announcement — except for China.
The American Soybean Association (ASA) said earlier this month that the continued escalation of tariffs with China is concerning to soybean farmers.
“We run the risk of immediate impacts this growing season, along with the impacts a prolonged trade war with China will inflict on our industry once again,” said Caleb Ragland, president of the ASA. “The short-term disruptions are painful, but the long-term repercussions to our reputation, our reliability as a supplier, and the stability of those trading relationships are hard to even put into words. We’re still reeling from TW1 — Trade War One — and are certainly not thrilled about an extended TW2.”
The United States’ soybean market share also is being pressured by China’s effort to become more self-sufficient in grain.
A report released on April 20 by the Chinese Agriculture Outlook Committee, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said China is expected to increase grain production in 2025 to a record 709 million tonnes, up from last year’s peak of 706.5 million tonnes, while also strengthening its capacity to supply grain and other major agricultural products. It said output is being pushed up mainly due to increased efforts to boost per unit crop yield on a large scale.
Source: World Grain