Shipments have been scheduled for future dates and may be part of the “preliminary agreement” signed by Beijing and Washington last week in Kuala Lumpur, in preparation for the high-level meeting scheduled for this Thursday in South Korea.
The acquisition could mark the resumption of soybean trade flows between the two countries, as part of a broader understanding between the two leaders, which includes reversing tariffs and restrictions imposed in recent months.
On Sunday, the U.S. Treasury Secretary and chief negotiator, Scott Bessent, anticipated a strong return of Chinese purchases, assuring that U.S. farmers would be “extremely satisfied” with the terms of the agreement.
Since Donald Trump re-activated the trade war by imposing tariffs in April, China has used soybeans as leverage. In response, it raised the import tariff on the agricultural product to 34%, which last year accounted for 21% of China’s total external soybean purchases, essential for livestock feed.
Despite Trump’s calls “to quadruple” U.S. requests, China diversified its suppliers, increasing imports from Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, investing in domestic production, and even reducing soybean use in livestock farming, according to consultancy Trivium.
The same consultancy warned that Chinese leaders “have no interest” in returning to reliance on the U.S. for their food security and dismissed a “structural restart” of bilateral soybean trade.
This month, state television CCTV indicated that the U.S. could lose up to 16 million tons in exports to China if orders were not resumed by mid-November.
“Losing China means losing half the market,” it pointed out.
Amid the deadlock, Trump described the absence of purchases as an “economically hostile act” and threatened to suspend deals with China related to cooking oil and other products.
