General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsChina weaponizes ag imports to target Trump and US farmers
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/28/soybeans-sacrificed-in-trumps-china-gamble-00583232Trump launched his tariff war earlier this year expressing confidence that Chinas reliance on the U.S. market would force Beijing to accept trade terms that benefited American businesses and consumers. Six months after the presidents Liberation Day tariffs and weeks from the Nov. 10 White House cutoff for a trade pact between the two countries, U.S. soybean farmers are learning that China long the predominant market for their product doesnt need them anymore.
China has not purchased any U.S. soybeans since May, according to the American Soybean Association. Beijing has pivoted to suppliers in Brazil and Argentina logging huge orders for Latin American beans and leaving U.S. farmers in the cold and panicking.
The dramatic shift echoes Chinas response to the tariff war during Trumps first term when the value of U.S. soybean exports plunged to $3.1 billion in 2018 from $14 billion in 2016.
How can we be surprised? Its a repeat of Trump 1.0, said Marc Busch, who has advised both the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department from 2012 to 2018 on trade and is a professor of international business diplomacy at Georgetown University. They didnt need Liberation Day or fentanyl tariffs to get them to rush to this playbook it had been well worn in the first Trump administration and to great effect.
Again. Same as Trumpâs first term.
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@sifill.bsky.social) 2025-09-29T01:41:43.983Z
Who should pay for Trumpâs repeated self indulgent tariff folly? The people about to have their healthcare increase exponentially? The 300,000 Black women who were put out of work by DOGE and Trump economic policies? Teachers? Librarians?

newdeal2
(4,221 posts)Hes Making Argentina Great Again.
RockRaven
(18,076 posts)think China was doing during the four years that The Dotard was out of office (and campaigning to get back in)? Sitting around doing nothing and wallowing in helplessness?
OF COURSE they have made themselves resilient to a weapon The Dotard already tried to wield and babbled about doing so again.
iemanja
(56,793 posts)Should be Trumps new motto.
BeyondGeography
(40,674 posts)The Chinese arent going to toss this winning hand away anytime soon.
From the article:
The supply lines are going to get solidified, and once they solidify, China will be like Why would I deal with an American supplier when I can still get the same material from Brazil or Argentina, and maybe its slightly more expensive, but I know those guys arent going to cut me off or screw with my shipments, unlike the U.S. government, Johnson said.
Beijing also has geostrategic reasons to leave behind U.S. soybean producers in favor of Latin American suppliers. Chinas sharp increase in purchases of Brazilian soybeans coincides with sky-high political tensions between Washington and Brasilia
BlueSpot
(1,200 posts)No. China responds to weaponization of tariffs. Same as they did last time around.
It's the same as a boycott. Supplier being an ass? Screw them and go to a competitor instead. Disney learned this lesson recently. Trump still can't figure it out.
Apparently, neither can Politico, which is a disappointment.
Wounded Bear
(63,050 posts)And as "president" trump doesn't understand the concept of freedom and sovereignty and that other countries can push back.
Meanwhile, the American people suffer the consequences of his bullshit.