China Snaps Up US Soybeans in Sudden Buying Spree After Trump–Xi Call

said he pushed for and received agreement from Xi to accelerate Chinese purchases of American goods. For months, China had cut back sharply on U.S. soybeans due to a standoff in bilateral trade relations, shifting purchases to cheaper Brazilian supplies. But following late-October talks between the two leaders in South Korea and a gradual warming in rhetoric, Beijing has returned to the U.S. market, with state-run COFCO leading the charge and booking nearly 2 million tons since late October, according to USDA data. This sudden wave of purchases marks a notable shift in the trajectory of U.S.–China trade relations, particularly in the agricultural sector, which has often been at the center of political tensions. Despite U.S. beans being more expensive than Brazilian alternatives, China’s willingness to buy deeply into the U.S. pipeline signals that political signals from the top leadership may be overriding pure market pricing. For Washington, the deals provide Trump with a visible ...