WASHIGTON — President Trump returned from a whirlwind Asia trip and claimed he had negotiated with China to buy “massive amounts” of U.S. soybeans. There was concern in the U.S. agricultural industry, however, that Trump was full of hot air, overstating if not misrepresenting the facts. The President offered no substantiating data. Sources said the Chinese didn’t seal any deal. No treaty amendment was signed. Trump’s claims were intended to ease political pressure from American soybean growers who feel betrayed by his global trade war that killed sales of their 2025 crop to China. What about the lost sales? China already has retaliated for the Trump trade war by cancelling 2025 U.S. purchases and buying instead from Argentina and Brazil. Yes, Trump stated: “Our farmers will be very happy.” But the soonest that China could return as a U.S. soybean customer would be for the 2026 crop. U.S. grain elevators, meanwhile, are holding off purchases. Traders still offer only about $10 a bushel, roughly $2 short of what growers need to break even and far short of profitability.
