U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins joins Maria in the Morning to discuss how President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and tariffs are affecting America’s farmers.
Working trade dispute with china This has created severe headwinds for American farmers, with soybean producers losing access to the world’s largest market for this commodity.
China stopped purchasing American soybean As a means of gaining leverage in trade negotiations by shifting its purchases from U.S. producers to countries such as Brazil and Argentina, in retaliation for the Trump administration’s tariffs this spring. According to data from the American Soybean Association (ASA), China is the world’s leading importer of soybeans, bringing in 61% of the world’s soybean supply over the past five marketing years.
The group said the US has historically served as the primary supplier to China, as US soybean farmers exported an average of 28% of their crop to China before the 2018 trade war. The figure dropped to a low of 11% in the 2018-19 crop year, but improved during the pandemic and reached 31% in 2020-21 before falling to 22% in 2023-24.
“We rely on trade with other countries, especially China, to buy our soybeans,” Brad Arnold, a multi-generation soybean farmer in southwestern Missouri, told Fox Business in an interview. He said China’s ban on US soybean purchases “has had a huge impact on our trade and our profits.”
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US soybean farmers are struggling to find new markets for their crop after China halted purchases amid an ongoing trade dispute. (Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Soybeans have domestic uses, especially looking at renewable diesel, biodiesel, produced from soybeans,” Arnold said. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s such a small percentage currently, you know a customer like China would need to buy beans to make a noticeable impact. You can’t take our number one customer, shut them down and just find a replacement overnight.”
Arnold said that farmers would prefer the convenience of selling their crops on the market, as opposed to receiving potential relief from the government, pointing out that they have “long-term investments and commitments in land and equipment”. “It’s not like you can give up farming one day and then suddenly do something else. There’s a huge financial commitment involved, not only in the year-round efforts, but also with the land itself.”
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China imposed retaliatory tariffs on America and stopped purchasing soybeans amid the ongoing trade dispute. (Florence LO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Arnold said a resolution to the ongoing trade dispute is needed to help farmers compete on a level playing field.
He explained, “I think it’s a man-made or political situation that we’re in right now. President Trump is trying to do what’s right with China and hold them accountable, and I think that’s good.” “But we can’t ignore the fact that, you know, we’re hurting people and hurting farmers in playing hardball.”
Scott Gerlt, ASA’s chief economist, told Fox Business in an interview that soybean farmers will need business assistance Time for harvesting will be given soon. He said while older farmers who own their own land or equipment may not need as much, younger farmers who have to rent their farmland and have operating notes are facing much greater risk.
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Soybean farmers could be in line for federal trade relief from the Trump administration. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“It is better to have trustworthy trading partners in the long run. Trade assistance can help farmers in the short term, keeping them in business and getting through to next year,” he said. “But the problem is that if we are not in the market now, that is another signal for South America to continue expanding.”
Gerlt said South American soybean producers Argentina and Brazil China is likely to take advantage of soybean demand amid the country’s trade dispute with the United States, which could have a long-term impact on American farmers.
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“Brazil has been expanding almost every year and has the potential to continue expanding,” Gerlt said, noting that it poses a long-term threat to market share. American farmer If US soybeans are not competing in the global market. “The lack of a trade deal and sitting out the market has very long-term implications.”
