CNBC reports:
China has halted purchases of American soybeans in another move in the escalated trade war with the U.S. Chinese buyers have stopped ordering and don’t expect to resume the purchases due to the disagreement over trade between the world’s two largest economies.
U.S. soybean farmers have taken a hard hit from the trade tensions as the value of soybean exports to China fell 74% to $3.1 billion in 2018 from about $12.2 billion the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Trump administration last week announced a $16 billion trade aid program for American farmers impacted by retaliatory tariffs. Soybean futures tanked to the lowest since 2009 on May 13 as the trade war heated up.