The coming soybean harvest season is emerging as a political and geopolitical flashpoint, as US farmers face a market in which their biggest global customer is looking elsewhere.
China’s growing wealth has driven increased consumption of meat from animals that are largely raised on soybean meal. That surging demand had largely been met in prior years by US farmers, but trade tensions have spurred Beijing to turn to Brazil for its soybeans.
Whereas China imported about $13 billion of soybeans from the US last year, it has booked no orders so far this year. Farmers are among the Trump administration’s staunchest supporters, but the steep fall could offer their “stiffest loyalty test yet,” Politico noted.
