China imported 1.3 billion bushels of American soybeans in 2017
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
Iowa soybean representatives and farmers will spend time with their largest customer next week in the hopes of keeping trade relations free of tariffs.
Iowa Soybean Association president Bill Shipley, president-elect Lindsay Greiner and CEO Kirk Leeds will be among those in China between today and March 25. The delegation’s goal is to persuade the Chinese government not to put tariffs on soybean imports in response to President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on aluminum and steel imports.
The delegation will visit with Chinese soybean processors and purchasers to reaffirm the benefits of soybean trade between the two countries.
“We will be in China to reinforce the personal side of trade,” Aaron Putze, communications director for the Iowa Soybean Association, told KCCI on Wednesday.
China is the number one destination for U.S. soybean exports.
In Iowa, nearly one of every four rows of soybean is exported to China.
The Asian country imported 1.3 billion American soybean bushels in 2017, worth about US$12.4 billion.
“China consumes 60 percent of global soybean production and Iowa farmers are a key supplier,” Shipley said in a statement yesterday.
The country that “wasn’t even in the market for soybeans 16 years ago, is now our largest customer, purchasing more soybeans than all others combined,” Shipley added.
Back on U.S. soil, all some farmers can do is wait for the delegation to return.
“It’s unchartered territory,” Rolland Schnell, a past president of the Iowa Soybean Association and grower from Jasper County, told KCCI on Wednesday. “(We) don’t know what’s coming next.”
The American Soybean Association has written to President Trump and requested a meeting to discuss the trade issues.
Some of President Trump’s colleagues have also asked him to reconsider the tariffs on steel and aluminum.
“You cannot build a grain bin out of a paper bag or plow a field with a toothpick,” Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said in a video statement on Mar. 8. “Our farmers rely on steel and aluminum for the products and equipment that make farms work. History has shown that retaliatory tariffs are often targeted at agriculture. Our farmers are deeply fearful, and I share their sentiment.”