Overview
- U.S. and Chinese negotiators say they finalized a framework over the weekend, clearing the way for a Trump–Xi session in South Korea, with officials signaling substantial Chinese soybean purchases are likely if a deal is sealed.
- Soy futures rose as much as 2.8% in Chicago to the highest since July 2024 on optimism from the talks, even as USDA reported weekly shipments with none loaded for China.
- China’s customs agency said it imported zero U.S. soybeans in September as buyers shifted to Brazil and Argentina, pressuring U.S. farmers sitting on a roughly 4.3‑billion‑bushel 2025 crop.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is “actually a soybean farmer,” but filings show he owns $5–$25 million in North Dakota cropland that he leases for income, prompting ridicule and renewed ethics questions about his incomplete divestments.
- The administration has released about $3 billion in farm aid with larger tariff-funded packages under discussion during a shutdown, and negotiators indicated the threatened 100% tariff on Chinese goods is effectively off the table in the talks.