China reluctant to place large soybean orders despite Donald Trump’s US trade war demands
- Beijing suspended purchases of US agricultural products in July after the US president complained that China was not purchasing enough US farm products
- Soybeans have become a focal point in the China-US trade war although China’s demand has dropped due to an outbreak of African swine fever
Concerns over an excessive reliance on the United States for supplies of soybeans, coupled with China’s now weaker position in the market when buying the often-controversial agricultural product, are two key factors underlying Beijing’s reluctance to place large orders, industry insiders said on Friday.
Soybeans have become a focal point in the China-US trade war, and were again thrust into the spotlight earlier this month when US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on US$300 billion of Chinese products after complaining that China was not purchasing enough US farm products. China responded by saying it would suspend buying US agricultural products.
The US scaled back the latest tariff threat this week by delaying or even removing some of the new levies which were set to come into force in September, although China did not confirm whether it would resume purchasing US agricultural products, including soybeans.
Instead, on Thursday China said that it would retaliate if the US went ahead with their plans to impose additional tariffs on September 1.
“When we went to the US to buy soybeans, we usually just talked about the quantity of purchase and the shipping arrangement. Price has never been on the table for negotiation,” said Yang Baolong, the president of the China Soybean Association and the chairman of the Heilongjiang Agriculture Investment Corporation.
Cong Liang, an official from China’s National Development and Reform Commission, said earlier this month that China had agreed to buy US farm products after Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to a trade truce at their summit in Japan, at the end of June.