Bitter harvest

The levies, or the reaction to them, have hit another important US sector — farming.

Farmers, responsible for much of the domestic food supply, also export their crops such as soybeans and corn to China and the rest of the world. But soybean farmers have had very few sales this year in a backlash over the tariffs.

The most recent US-China trade talks in South Korea led to China agreeing to buy 12 million metric tons of US soybeans through January in a welcome reprieve for the struggling US farmers.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business that China had also agreed to purchase 25 million tons annually for the next three years.

Lia Nogueira, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's agricultural economics department, said: "Just thinking about the size of the market, the US is a big country, but if you compare it to the rest of the world, most of the world consumers are going to be outside of the US.

"If you think about the production of particularly corn and soybeans, the amount of corn and soybeans produced in the US cannot just be consumed in the US," said Nogueira, an agricultural trade economist who researches agricultural policy, international agreements and non-tariff barriers to trade. "So, if we want to keep the production at the volume that we have right now or even increase, we have to sell it in other countries."

Tariffs have also impacted trade relationships with Mexico, Canada, and the European Union. These three agricultural producers "accounted for almost 60 percent of all agricultural sales to the US between 2020 and 2024", according to figures from the United States Department of Agriculture.

A smooth trade relationship with these countries is important as Mexico is a major supplier of fruit, vegetables, and alcoholic beverages to the US. Canada exports vegetable oils, vegetables, processed food, baked goods and meat. And the EU sends wine, spirits and essential oils, USDA data shows.

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com