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Donald Trump has called on China to quadruple its imports of American soyabeans to reduce its trade surplus with the US, a day before a crucial truce between the two countries is due to expire.
The US president’s comments address one of the key political pressure points for Washington in its trade war with Beijing — the negative impact of high Chinese tariffs on US farmers who see China as one of their biggest markets.
“Our great farmers produce the most robust soybeans. I hope China will quickly quadruple its soybean orders. This is also a way of substantially reducing China’s Trade Deficit [sic] with the USA,” Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media site.
“Rapid service will be provided. Thank you President XI,” he added, without elaborating.
If the US and China do not reach an agreement in their trade talks, they risk reimposing on each a wall of tariffs that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has described as an “embargo”.
The two sides have been locked in negotiations since May, when they agreed to what amounted to a 90-day ceasefire. Trump suspended US tariffs on imports from China of 145 per cent, while Beijing did the same for its retaliatory rate of 125 per cent. The truce is set to expire on Tuesday.
The two sides met again in London in June and in Stockholm last month where they discussed an extension of the truce, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said, adding that a final decision would depend on Trump.
After each meeting, Trump has sounded optimistic about the likelihood of a deal but has offered few details of the contents of the talks.
Since the start of the second phase of his trade war, US farmers have feared they would bear the brunt of increased tensions with China.
China’s retaliatory measures have targeted soyabeans and beef as well as pork, seafood, cotton, chicken and corn in what analysts believe is a bid to hit Trump’s political supporters in rural areas.
Soyabeans from the US have been hit with additional 20 per cent tariffs this year on top of existing tariffs.
China imports about 20 per cent of its soyabeans from the US — about half of the levels in 2016 before the initial phase of Trump’s trade war during his first term. But China still buys nearly half of US soyabean exports.
China’s imports of US soyabeans fell 39 per cent year on year in the first half of 2025 in volume terms, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.
People in the industry said the bulk of China’s soyabean imports from the US usually occurred in November, December and January.
“China will be taking very few American soyabeans at this tariff level,” said an employee of a large US farm goods and commodity trading firm. “If the tariffs are not resolved by fall it will be very difficult for us and farmers.”
With additional reporting by Wenjie Ding in Beijing
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