Soybean bailout? Hard-hit farmers want China trade more than Trump aid

New U.S. tariffs on lumber and furniture, as well as wider Chinese controls on rare-earth minerals, have heated up the political rhetoric and roiled markets. But there are reasons the two countries could come together, and agriculture may provide the first step. The U.S. is eager to sell, and China, presumably, is eager to buy the pea-sized yellow bean that produces vegetable oil for humans and feed for livestock. If Beijing and Washington can reach a soybean agreement in the near future, it may prove a stepping stone to a larger trade agreement. If they can’t, it may further sour relations between the two economic powers. “It’s a game of chicken, in one sense,” says Joseph Glauber, an emeritus research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Agriculture is the collateral damage in this trade fight with China.” Here’s the problem: American farmers are in the midst of harvesting a bin-busting crop ...