China’s ties with Brazil extend beyond soybean production

China is expected to resume soybean purchases from the world’s largest economy as part of a trade agreement hopefully reached at a meeting in South Korea on Thursday. Turning a key import into a trade war lever is a victory for China’s planning model, Reuters reports. China stopped purchasing American products after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited China in May. Trump called the refusal to buy US legumes an “economically hostile act” and the day before, he had announced plans to stop buying Chinese vegetable oil. Experts note that this is unlikely to be considered equivalent retaliation. The US is China’s main market for waste vegetable oil, a popular feedstock for renewable fuel production. Last year, its exports totaled $1.1 billion, a fraction of the $12.6 billion China spent on soybean imports. While American farmers struggle to find an alternative market, the People’s Republic of China has long been determined to turn Brazil into a soybean superpower. ...