Whoever claimed trade wars are easy to win clearly wasn’t an American farmer. Witness the enormous collateral damage America’s soybean producers are suffering amid President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Exports of American soybeans to China have collapsed this year, with no new orders logged in recent months ahead of the prime autumn export season. Before Trump’s first round of tariffs on China in 2018, China was the largest export market for American soy. It typically bought about 30% of total U.S. soybean production and some 60% of American soybean exports. Those exports were worth $12.8 billion annually, the soybean farmers’ trade association reports.

Beijing has made a concerted effort to diversify its supply of soybeans and related products since the first Trump administrati

See Full Page