Beijing will buy ‘a lot of’ soybean and other U.S. goods before spring, Trump said.
President Donald Trump said China will buy more U.S. soybeans after data released on Friday show only a small uptick in exports to the Asian country.
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Trump said his team had spoken to Chinese officials earlier that day.
“They’re in the process of doing, not only a little bit, but they’ll be doing a lot of soybean purchase,” he said.
The president added that China will buy “a lot of soybeans” before spring, as well as “a lot of everything else.”
After Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea at the end of October, the White House said Beijing agreed as part of a U.S.–China trade deal to buy at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in November and December, and at least 25 million metric tons each year for the next three years.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, released after the government reopened on Nov. 13, show two Chinese purchases of American soybeans since the Trump–Xi summit in South Korea totaling 332,000 metric tons—well short of the 12 million metric tons Beijing committed to buying by the end of the year.
China is the biggest importer of soybeans in the world. It’s also the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans, purchasing more than half of America’s soybean exports in most years.
In 2024, China bought 26.8 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, worth $12.6 billion, but the regime turned away from U.S. beans after the United States increased tariffs on Chinese goods to force Beijing to act on fentanyl control.
By Lily Zhou
