TRACY, Minnesota — Months into a trade war with China, steel grain bins across rural Minnesota sit plump with soybeans without a market, and farmers are nervously eyeing balance sheets.

On Wednesday, news broke across an ocean that, ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, China had purchased three cargoes of U.S. soybeans, ending a monthslong embargo. The news was welcome. But more would be needed.

In southwestern Minnesota, including Tracy, local economies follow the soybean markets. In good years, farmers use profits to buy pickups from area car dealerships and make down payments on land. In lean years, they tighten belts.

Trump’s trade war with China could not have come at a worse time. It’s the lean years in the soybean markets, a

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