Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With anti-US sentiments unfolding worldwide, China has replaced the import of American soybeans with more expensive produce from Brazil, according to media reports on Thursday.
Even if other nations importing US soybeans continue as usual, American exports would still fall by 48 percent—because China is the largest buyer.
The US farmers are reportedly upset that their product is being neglected despite being superior to Brazilian, which has more moisture and yields less oil.
According to reports, Beijing has not forward-purchased a single tonne of this US oilseed for September and October 2025, opting instead to source it from Brasilia, whose produce is more expensive by USD 40 per tonne. |
The US soybean harvest is set to begin in the next few weeks. Oilseed growers routinely enter into forward sales from September.
Soybean export is among the reasons why US President Donald Trump is currently soft-pedalling the trade-and-tariff dispute with China. Early in August, he directly urged Chinese President XI Jinping on social media to buy more US soybeans. The desperation is, perhaps, reflected in his tough stance against India.
China imposes a 3 percent import duty on soybean imports, but its US shipments attract an additional 20 percent tariff.
American soybeans are currently traded at USD 372 per tonne in the futures market. China imports over 60 percent of the total soybean traded worldwide. In the 2023-24 marketing season, it imported 25 million tonnes (mt) of US soybean, according to the American Soybean Association (ASA). In value terms, American soybean exports reached a high of USD 145 billion before declining to just USD 13.2 billion in 2023-24.
China buys US soybean from September to January, synchronising with the harvest season. Brazilian soybeans are purchased from January to August. Official Chinese data show that its import of oilseed from Brazil in July was 11.67 mt. Brazil is expected to produce 176 mt soybeans in 2025-26, while China is likely to import a record 112 mt.
While America began efforts to export the oilseed in 1982, China started importing it in 1997.
Although they struck a trade deal in 2021, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected soybean shipments. After the first trade dispute with Washington, Beijing sourced oilseed from other countries.