{
  "id": 10548051,
  "title": "China has quietly got Trump by the soybeans",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/china-has-quietly-got-trump-by-the-soybeans",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-28T21:39:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/28/china-trump-xi-soybeans-farmers-midwest/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "President Donald Trump's welcome for his summit with China’s Xi Jinping revealed a strategic move by China: leaving raw soybeans uncapped from tariff relief. While Chinese import of soybean products, including seed, flour, and processing by-products, was included, bulk soybeans, a core concern in U.S.-China farm tensions, remained untouched. Soybeans, a significant agricultural export of the U.S., totaled $16.5 billion in 2020, ranking second after corn. China's insatiable demand for soybeans, largely due to limited arable land, makes them vulnerable to U.S.-China trade policy fluctuations. Prior to the first Trump trade war in 2018, American Soybean Association estimated 28% of U.S. soybean production was shipped to China. The imposition of a 25% retaliatory tariff on U.S. soybeans by China in 2018 resulted in $9.4 billion in soybean losses for American farmers, costing Iowa and Illinois heavily. Given soybeans' role in U.S. farmers' revenue, they were a key focus in Trump's dealmaking with Beijing. He secured a deal with Xi in November, ensuring China's commitment to buying soybeans in 2026, 2027, and 2028. The White House also announced China's commitment to buy $17 billion worth of agricultural products. However, China has alternatives, primarily Brazil. Brazil, having overtaken the U.S. as China's largest soybean supplier over a decade ago, continued to grow its market share, aided by cheaper prices. China's exclusion of commodity soybeans from the tariff relief package gives it a bargaining chip for future talks, according to Usha Haley, a professor at Wichita State University who studies Chinese trade strategy. This strategy keeps China's soybean market uncertainty and high cost for American farmers, maintaining leverage in potential negotiations.",
  "summary": "Trump and Xi have slashed tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods on each side, but not the soybeans that Iowa farmers depend on",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "‘Unsettling to American partners’: Trump’s offer to sell arms to China is an admission he doesn’t take its security threats seriously, experts warn",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/unsettling-to-american-partners-trumps-offer-to-sell-arms-to-china-is",
        "published": "2026-09-28T19:33:58.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}