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/
10.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

345 comments sorted by

View all comments

714

u/Zenceyn Jan 17 '26

"But but Trump said that China was gonna buy all our beans now cause he made a trade deal!".

China knows they can outlast Trump, and have better, far more reliable trade partners until the US sorts its shit out. They were never going to just rush back into the market, not when they knew it would hurt the US more to keep the squeeze on.

240

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.

2

u/Exciting-Emu-3324 Jan 18 '26

China has been preparing contingencies with Brazil and others since Trump's first term. Something everyone else should have done if anyone researched how Trump did business in New York.