(Original title: Trump accuses China of not importing soybeans)

On October 15, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin½£ presided over a routine press conference.

A reporter from Japan's Kyodo News Agency asked. According to reports, US President Trump accused China of deliberately stopping importing US soybeans and said that as a retaliatory measure, he would stop importing edible oil from China. What is China's comment on this?

Picture for American soybeans (web map)

Lin Jian said that China's position on handling Sino-US economic and trade issues is consistent and clear. There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars and are not in the interests of either party. Both parties should negotiate and resolve relevant issues on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit.

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China does not buy U.S. soybeans, Trump is blackmailing

China has pressed the "suspension key" on purchasing soybeans, and the American soybeans farmers who harvest the season are struggling to talk to Trump with China.

But what did the president of the United States do?

Just on October 14 local time, Trump once again issued a trade blackmail on China¡¯s social media platform, claiming that China ¡°deliberately didn¡¯t buy¡± U.S. soybeans was an ¡°economic hostility¡± and he considered terminating part of the trade relationship with China, including the import of edible oil.

Trump once again issued trade blackmail against China on social media platforms (data map)

The US president posted on his social platform "Truth Social" that China "deliberately does not buy our soybeans, which brings difficulties to our soybean farmers. This is an act of economic hostility. In retaliation, we are considering terminating our business dealings with China in edible oil and other trade fields".

¡°For example, we can produce our own food oil without importing it from China.¡±

Speaking out for the bean farmers, I am afraid that the farmers will feel cold.

As for the edible oil specifically mentioned by Trump, the main part of Sino-US edible oil trade is actually the waste edible oil (UCO) imported by the United States for the manufacture of biofuels, which is commonly known as gutter oil.

The number of UCOs imported from the United States has grown rapidly since 2020, jumping from less than 90,000 tons in 2020 to more than 13.6 million tons in 2023, with the vast majority coming from China.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, in 2024, China's UCO exports to the United States reached a record level, and the United States became China's largest export destination of UCO, with an export volume of approximately 1.27 million tons, accounting for approximately 43% of China's total UCO exports.%.

But if he threatens China with this, he is too naive.

Trump should note that regarding the purchase of US soybeans, in fact, China has already stated before that tariff wars and trade wars are not in the interests of either party, and both sides should negotiate and resolve relevant issues on the basis of equality, respect and reciprocity.

Data from the American Soybean Association (ASA) show that China has long been the largest soybean buyer in the United States. By 2024, China imported about 27 million tons of soybean from the United States, with a total value of $12.8 billion, accounting for about half of the total US soybean exports.

But as the Trump administration continues to increase tariff threats and restrict blockade, China has suspended the purchase of soybeans, instead of increasing imports from South American countries.

According to CCTV's "Yuyuan Tan Tian" learned from major grain terminals in China, from January to September this year, the number of US grain carriers docked dropped by 56% year-on-year, from 72 to 32. This is because since July, the number of grain carriers from the United States docked at the terminal has dropped to zero.

In comparison, since May, the terminal has had an average of more than 40 grain carriers from South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay docking every month. 90% of what these grain carriers transport is soybeans.

Graph for the field harvest of soybeans site (network map)

Obviously, Trump seriously misjudged the flexibility and strategic depth of China's trading system. China's reduction of U.S. soybean imports is not a passive countermeasure, but based on the already promoted supply chain diversification.

China, however, has hastened to jump foot on the other side of the ocean.

As U.S. soybeans enter the harvest season, American farmers who have lost China customers are caught in a "war for survival." Panic continues to spread and pressure is being exerted on the Trump administration to reach a solution with China.

To reduce their dependence on the Chinese market, U.S. bean farmers have travelled to Vietnam and the Philippines to try to persuade local livestock farmers to increase their purchases of U.S. soybeans, but one farmer has said, ¡°We can¡¯t find a market that will replace China overnight.¡±

Several U.S. media outlets have warned that in the long run, the prospects for the U.S. to resume mass exports of soybeans to China are not optimistic.China has doubts about the reliability of the Trump administration's trade promises, plus China's push for "self-sufficiency" policy, which could mean that in the foreseeable future, U.S. farmers are at risk of losing the Chinese market.

In a broader field, the Sino-US game has entered deep water.

"Regarding tariff wars and trade wars, China's position is consistent. Fight and accompany to the end; Talk, the door is open." A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce stressed on the 14th that the US side can't talk while threatening to introduce new restrictive measures, which is not the right way to get along with China. China urges the US to correct its wrong practices as soon as possible, show sincerity in talks, go hand in hand with China, take the important consensus reached by the two heads of state on the phone as a guide, safeguard the hard-won consultation results, continue to play the role of the Sino-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, resolve their respective concerns through dialogue and consultation, properly manage differences, and promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of Sino-US economic and trade relations.