President Donald Trump is making plans for a significant aid package for U.S soybean farmers

President Donald Trump is preparing a large aid package for U.S. soybean farmers aimed at helping them weather China’s halt in purchases during the ongoing trade standoff. The president said soybeans will be a key part of his upcoming discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but farmers worry time is running short to secure sales of this year’s crop to their biggest overseas buyer.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC Thursday that “substantial support for our farmers, especially the soybean farmers” could be announced as soon as Tuesday. While details are not yet public, the package would come as Washington and Beijing have failed to reach a broader trade agreement and China has stopped buying American soybeans. China, which long served as the largest foreign buyer of U.S. beans, last purchased in May and has not bought any so far this harvest season.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that “the Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying,” and added, “We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers.” He also said soybeans will be a “major topic of discussion” when he meets Xi in four weeks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.

Soybeans, used largely for oil production and animal feed, are America’s top food export, making up about 14% of all agricultural shipments abroad. China in recent years has purchased around a quarter of U.S. soybeans. Farmers produced $60.7 billion worth of the crop in the 2022–2023 marketing year, about 4.3 billion bushels, with just over half exported. Illinois leads production, followed by Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. In Trump’s first trade clash with Beijing, Washington directed more than $22 billion in farm aid in 2019 and nearly $46 billion in 2020, the latter also including COVID-related support.