Bessent: U.S. 'addressed' soybean farmers' concern with China
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that U.S. soybean exports to China were addressed during a meeting between the two sides in Malaysia.
“I think we have addressed the farmers’ concerns,” Bessent told Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ This Week, of the meeting with Chinese International Trade Representative Li Chenggang and Vice Premier He Lifeng.
American soybean farmers have been impacted by President Trump’s tariff battle with China. While the U.S. is typically the top supplier of soybeans to China, China purchased over 1 million tons of soybeans from Argentina last month after the South American country suspended its 26 percent export tax on soybeans, according to Reuters.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. farmers sold $12.64 billion worth of soybeans to China last year, over $10 billion more than the next-closest trading partner, the European Union.
During the last decade, soybean exports to China peaked in 2022, when farmers sent $17.92 billion worth of the crop to the East Asian country.
“Our soybean farmers will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years,” Bessent said.
Earlier this month, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he planned to use “a small portion” of tariff revenue to assist soybean farmers impacted by the trade battles. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Thursday that the USDA is reopening all 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices.
The offices, which were closed due to the government shutdown, provide disaster assistance and loans to farmers and ranchers.
Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, capping off a five-day Asia trip that began in Malaysia on Sunday.
Bessent told ABC News that negotiators from the two countries “reached a substantial framework” regarding impending 100 percent U.S. tariffs on Chinese imported goods, which the president announced earlier this month over China's tightening restrictions on the sourcing and manufacturing of rare earth minerals.