China: When China tentatively agreed last month to increase its imports of US goods, American soybean farmers sighed with relief.
They had been holding their breath since April when Beijing, in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminium in March, first proposed retaliatory duties on industrial and agricultural products, including soybeans.
The threat caused the price of US soybeans initially to plunge, and they have continued on a slower, but still downward trend in the past several weeks.
“I was very optimistic. I thought ‘good deal. Maybe they’re getting some things worked out’,” said Lindsay Greiner, a soybean farmer from southeast Iowa in the heart of the American Midwest.
The hope was short-lived, however, as trade talks stalled. US President Donald Trump threatened to follow through with new tariffs last week, and a visit to Beijing by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ended without clear results.
