Meet the Chinese farmers delighted by the prospect of a US trade war
Threat of import tariffs on US-produced soybeans likely to prove a boon to Chinese producers
When farmer Liu Cong first started planting soybeans in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province, he lamented how low prices were, thanks largely to competition from American exports.
“US soybeans assaulted the Chinese market,” said Liu, who was visiting a soybean industry exhibition this week in Shanghai. “They were like wolves coming.”
China is the largest buyer of American soybeans in the world, accounting for almost 60 per cent of US soy exports worth US$12.4 billion in revenue for the year ended on August 31.
Liu and other Chinese soy growers are cheering a proposed 25 per cent Chinese tariff on American soybeans announced last week, relishing the prospect of potential new business while farmers from Iowa to Indiana fret over losing their biggest overseas customer.
The tariffs are part of a trade dispute that escalated last week when the administration of President Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on US$50 billion in Chinese imports. China lashed back within hours, matching the American tariffs with plans to tax US$50 billion of US products, targeting products they can get elsewhere like soybeans and small aircraft.