Beijing halted purchases of American soybeans amid an ongoing trade war with the United States. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
"China was always going to reduce its reliance on the United States for food security," Bryan Burack, a senior policy advisor for China and the Indo-Pacific at the Heritage Foundation told Fox News Digital. "China started signing purchase agreements with other countries for soybeans well before President Trump took office," he said, adding that Beijing has "been decoupling from the U.S. for a long time."
"Unfortunately, the only way for us to respond is to do the same and that process is painful and excruciating," Burack said.
But for farmers thousands of miles from Washington and Beijing, those policy shifts translate into shrinking markets and tighter margins.
"We rely on trade with other countries, specifically China, to buy our soybeans," Brad Arnold, a multigenerational soybean farmer in southwestern Missouri, told FOX Business. He said that China's decision to boycott U.S. soybean purchases "has huge impacts on our business and our bottom line."
AMERICAN SOYBEAN FARMERS FACE FINANCIAL CRISIS AS CHINA TRADE DISPUTE THREATENS LIVELIHOODS
Chinese President Xi Jinping halted soybean purchases amid a trade war with the United States. (Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
And in a possible gesture of easing tensions, Reuters reported that China bought around 180,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the run-up to Trump and Xi's meeting.
Whether it marks a true thaw in U.S.–China trade relations or just a temporary reprieve, the purchase underscores how deeply intertwined diplomacy and agriculture remain.
Fox Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.
Amanda covers the intersection of business and geopolitics for Fox News Digital.
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