Bessent Says China to Buy U.S. Soybeans
Published: Friday, October 31, 2025
Bloomberg's Hallie Gu and James Mayger reported that "China will make 'substantial' purchases of U.S. soybeans, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday after talks with Chinese counterparts, in a sign that the relations are thawing ahead of a possible leaders' meeting."
"Bessent's comments to CBS's Face the Nation follow two days of meetings with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and other officials in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. An initial consensus was reached on various bilateral issues including agriculture, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce," Gu and Mayger reported. "The move underscores efforts by both sides to stabilize relations after months of on-and-off tensions and exchange of sharp rhetoric."
"If confirmed by Beijing, the pledge to step up purchases of U.S. supplies would bring major relief to American farmers struggling with financial stress after China, their top buyer, walked away this season," Gu and Mayger reported. "The Chinese government has wielded soybean imports as a major bargaining chip throughout its trade dispute with Washington, helping to strengthen its leverage in the latest round of negotiations."
The Hill's Max Rego reported that "according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. farmers sold $12.64 billion worth of soybeans to China last year, more than $10 billion more than that sold to the next closest trading partner, the European Union. During the last decade, soybean exports to China peaked in 2022, when farmers sent $17.92 billion worth of the crop to the East Asian country."
"Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, said his group is encouraged by Bessent's comments," Gu and Mayger reported. "'Signals of purchase commitments are a positive step,' Ragland said in a statement. 'We appreciate the White House and trade negotiators keeping U.S. soybeans at the center of discussions, and are hopeful Thursday's meeting between President Trump and President Xi will result in a trade deal that delivers results for our farmers.'"
Reuters' David Lawder and Jasper Ward reported that "the U.S. Trade Representative's office on Friday said it had launched a new tariff investigation into China's 'apparent failure' to comply with the 'Phase One' trade deal signed with President Donald Trump in 2020 to end his first-term U.S.-China trade war."
"The new unfair trade practices probe under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives Trump another potential tool to increase tariffs on Chinese imports," Lawder and Ward reported. "China said it firmly opposed what it said were Washington's 'false accusations and related investigation measures,' and accused the United States of escalating economic and other forms of pressure against China."
"The Phase One deal was meant to rebalance trade between China and the U.S. by committing Beijing to increase purchases of U.S. farm and manufactured goods, energy and services by $200 billion annually for at least two years," Lawder and Ward reported. "But Beijing never met the purchase targets, blaming the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that was spreading at the time of its signing in January 2020."
"A USTR Federal Register notice announcing the probe also said that China appeared to not have lived up to its commitments to change policies on intellectual property protections, forced technology transfer, agriculture and financ-
ial services—practices that were at the heart of Trump's first-term tariffs on Chinese imports," Lawder and Ward reported. "It said the investigation will initially focus on China's implementation of its commitments under the Phase One deal. The notice invites public comments on the matter from Oct. 31 through Dec. 1. USTR will convene a public hearing to collect further testimony on Dec. 16."
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