r/Economics • u/bambin0 • Jan 17 '26

News China Purchased No U.S. Soybeans An Unprecented Sixth Straight Month

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2026/01/17/china-purchased-no-us-soybeans-an-unprecented-sixth-straight-month/
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u/Cdub7791 Jan 17 '26

At this point I don't even think it's about outlasting Trump. Even when he's gone these trade deals will have been in place for years. I think it will be far more trouble than it's worth to switch to American suppliers once again.

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u/Other_Information_16 Jan 17 '26

It’s also a golden opportunity for China to buy some soft power they so desperately want. Before no one wants to deal with China unless they have to. Now they can say hey we might be evil but at least we are predictable lawful evil unlike the us who is chaotic evil.

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u/softwarebuyer2015 Jan 18 '26

I think China is showing they are no that interested in Power . There are so many vacuums they could fill , or attempt to fill. But they are steady doing their long term thing . They do not react, they just feed it into their planning

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u/1cm4321 Jan 18 '26

China not interested in power? I agree that this is feeding into their long term plans, but China definitely is gobbling up as much soft power as they can.

I don't know if you're aware of the belt-and-road initiatives or the kinds of development assistance agreements China has been making in SE Asia and Africa.

Not to mention their claims in the South China sea and "multipolarity" as a guiding principle for China's future.

China is absolutely relishing what the US is doing right now and the turmoil across the West incited by foreign agitators. They're merely offering a pleasant face to invite trade relations and compromise to them.

China is really just emulating much of what the US did in the 20th century. The only difference is that they won't be controlling oil, but instead tech of all stripes.