China will buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans between now and January as part of a deal reached between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, ending its virtual embargo in recent months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday morning.
In addition, “for the next three years, they’re going to be buying a minimum of 25 million metric tons per annum,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Network.
That would put Chinese purchases back on par with recent years: U.S. Agriculture Department data shows China bought 22.5 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the 2024-25 marketing year, and 24.3 million in 2023-24. USDA records also show that China bought more than 30 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in preceding years.
Bessent hailed Beijing’s commitment as one of the major outcomes of a meeting between Trump and Xi earlier Thursday in South Korea. China has been the biggest export market for U.S. soybeans in recent years, but stopped making purchases earlier this year after Trump imposed additional tariffs on its exports.
