Customs data: China did not import soybeans from the United States in September

According to the General Customs Agency data, China did not import soybeans from the United States in September.This is the first time China's soybean imports to the United States have dropped to zero since November 2018.

The picture shows a screenshot of the website of the General Administration of Customs

At the same time, in the context of tariffs, China, as the world's largest soybean importer, is increasing its purchases of soybeans from South American countries. In September, it imported soybeans from Brazil (whether broken or not) of approximately US$4.9 billion. Bloomberg reported that dissatisfaction among American farmers is intensifying due to the loss of China buyers, and many people are eager for U.S. government assistance.

China increases purchases of South American soybeans

Data showed that in September, China imported approximately US$4.9 billion in soybeans from Brazil (whether broken or not)

Extended reading

China still doesn't buy it, and the White House hasn't recruited it yet. "The U.S. soybean market will be bloodwashed"

As soybeans enter the harvest season, American farmers who have lost Chinese customers are plunged into a ¡°struggle for survival.¡±

According to the Wall Street Journal, the financial situation of U.S. soybean farms has been at risk under double pressure from rising equipment and fertilizer costs, excess supply of corn and soybeans.In order to calm farmers' emotions, the U.S. Congress passed a $10 billion agricultural bailout plan last December, and the Trump administration is considering additional $10 billion to $14 billion to mitigate the impact of the trade dispute on farmers.

On Monday (6), Trump announced at the White House that he would ¡°introduce agricultural-related support measures this week¡± to help farmers cope with declining export losses to China. A White House official told U.S. media that Trump is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Rowling later this week to finally determine the source of agricultural bailout funding.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture responded that Trump was "using all available tools" to ensure that farmers have the resources they need to maintain agricultural production.

Farmers are expecting the bailout plan to be announced as soon as possible, according to the New York Times, but the White House said the government's ongoing shutdown forced the plan to be postponed.

On October 6, local time, Trump held a press conference at the White House (White House video screenshot)

However, the farm time is not waiting for people.The government is late to come up with a concrete solution, and the panic in the U.S. bean farming is further escalating.

Ron Kindred, who plants 1,700 acres of corn and soybeans in central Illinois, is halfway through this year's soybean harvest. In a signed contract, he plans to sell 40% of the soybean harvest, but the remaining 60% still faces "uncertainty". At present, local soybean prices have begun to fall.

"If an agreement cannot be reached with China as soon as possible, the soybean market may collapse," Kindrid said worriedly."China seems to have no sense of urgency, but the anxiety of the American agricultural community is growing stronger and stronger."

In order to reduce his dependence on the China market, Kindrid traveled to Vietnam and the Philippines to try to persuade local livestock farmers to increase U.S. soybean purchases. "Some progress has been made over the years, but we cannot find a market that can replace China overnight," he said.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the second and third largest buyers of U.S. soybeans are the EU and Mexico, respectively, the two countries combined annual procurement amount of about $5 billion, this scale is still less than China's $12.6 billion in the procurement volume in 2024.

Morey Hill, an Iowa soybean grower across the Mississippi River from Kindred, has also made several trips to Cambodia this year in search of opportunities. The latest visit was last week, when Hill introduced the planting technology of American soybean farmers with an annual output of 4 billion bushels to a room full of importers and local farmers.

During that trip, Hill and other American farmers also drove in a bus along a narrow road to the rural areas of Cambodia.He sold to local fish farmers and replaced the traditional cheap ¡°fish powder¡± (made from crushed small fish) with U.S. soybeans as feed, saying this could grow better quality, higher fat fish.

He also plans to travel to Morocco next month to promote U.S. soybeans as poultry feed.

According to reports, like thousands of U.S. farmers, Hill shifted from planting dried grass to cultivating soybeans about 30 years ago. At the time, the promotion of anti-farm soybeans, overlap with the surge in demand in the Chinese market, attracted a large number of farmers like him to expand the size of soybeans cultivation. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. soybeans cultivation area grew by 40% between 1995 and 2024.

But now Hill has no motivation to sell new season soybeans, he warned that if a deal with China is not reached as soon as possible, the U.S. soybeans market ¡°could have a bloodshed.¡±

Since May this year, China has not bought a soybean from the United States (video screenshot)

Iowa farmer Rob Ewoldt also traveled to Rome earlier this year to meet with a large poultry farmer in Tunisia.

But in Ewald's view, orders from countries like Tunisia are just "hits"(baseball terminology, referring to ordinary shots), which is far from being compared to the "home runs"(key shots) in the China market. In the long run, opening up new markets does help, but if U.S. growers cannot sell soybeans quickly, he fears he will have trouble raising the money to keep the farm running.

¡°Our farm requires $1 million in cash per year,¡± he said, ¡°you have to make sure you have about $1.3 million to cover the cost of your debt and have some money to maintain your livelihood.¡±

The current agricultural economic situation in the United States is so bad that some farmers have announced their abandonment. Dean Buchholz, a corn and soybean farmer in DeKalb County, Illinois, said this will be his final year of farming due to rising costs, low crop prices and some health problems. He plans to lease the land next year.

¡°I¡¯ve always thought I¡¯d be planting until the day I entered the land,¡± said Buchholz, ¡°but now the situation is that either invest a lot of money and put on more debt, or just give up.

Even if the U.S. continues to advance trade agreement negotiations now and in the future, farmers remain pessimistic that even if the two countries can reach an agreement, it is too late to save the profits of many U.S. farmers.

A representative of the soybean industry told Politico, ¡°At that time, half of our transportation window has passed, and for our farmers, it¡¯s a crucial moment, but we haven¡¯t seen any signs of any improvement that will give us hope for the problem to be solved and delivered to China.¡±

¡°Politico¡± pointed out 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 the Chinese side is pushing for a ¡°self-sufficiency¡± strategy, which could mean that in the foreseeable future, U.S. farmers are at risk of losing the Chinese market.

Leland Lazarus, a former special assistant to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, believes that China's choice to abandon U.S. soybean producers and switch to Latin American suppliers "is sending a clear signal that China has other friends in the world, especially in the global South. These countries have now become China's 'safety valves' and have also strengthened their bargaining chips when negotiating with the United States."

As for whether soybeans will be discussed in the Sino-US economic and trade consultations, my Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun previously stated at a regular press conference that it is recommended to seek understanding of specific issues from China's competent authorities. "What I want to emphasize is that tariff wars and trade wars are not in the interests of either party. Both sides should negotiate and resolve relevant issues on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit."