The Wisconsin Soybean Association (WSA) and American Soybean Association (ASA) are urging President Trump to prioritize soybeans in U.S.-China trade talks, warning that retaliatory tariffs are shutting American farmers out of their largest export market heading into the 2025 soybean harvest. 

With a potentially record harvest just weeks away, the clock is ticking to secure a meaningful, lasting deal that brings clarity to the marketplace, WSA President Doug Rebout said. 

“We are looking at a really good crop, and to have a deal set in place with China, our largest buyer, would be a huge boost to Wisconsin farmers and farmers across the country,” said Rebout, who farms in Janesville. “It’s extremely important.”  

In a letter sent Aug. 19 to the White House, ASA implored the president to work on removing Chinese tariffs on U.S. soybeans and secure commitments for future purchases. ASA also released a white paper underscoring the dire financial consequences of losing long-term market share in China. 

“U.S. soybean farmers are standing at a trade and financial precipice,” ASA President Caleb Ragland, a soybean farmer from Kentucky, wrote in the letter. “Soybean farmers are under extreme financial stress. Prices continue to drop and at the same time our farmers are paying significantly more for inputs and equipment. U.S. soybean farmers cannot survive a prolonged trade dispute with our largest customer.” 

China’s imports of U.S. soy are greater than all other markets combined. China has historically imported more than 60% of the world’s soybean supplies, with the U.S. once serving as its top source. But retaliatory tariffs now make U.S. soybeans 20% more expensive than South American supplies, and China has turned to Brazil, which has expanded production to meet demand. 

“Every day without an agreement further erodes U.S. farmers’ market share in China,” Ragland said. “We strongly urge the administration to secure a deal that reopens this vital market for U.S. soybeans.” 

Wisconsin soybean farmers depend on trade through exporting more than 50% of their crop to international markets, primarily in China, Mexico and Canada. And while most U.S. states saw their exports drop by 1% in ag exports, Wisconsin agriculture boosted its exports by nearly 2% over the past two years.  

Soy farmers have skin in the game in China, Barron County farmer Tanner Johnson emphasized. Through advocacy and visionary soy checkoff investments, U.S. soybean farmers helped cultivate and grow the Chinese market across four decades. Damaging once-stable market access would prove devastating for not just farmers, but rural economies and communities across the country.  

Unlike the 2018-2019 trade war, farmers are coping with far thinner profit margins marked by falling commodity prices combined with increased input costs.  

“China is an irreplaceable market; we’re working our tails off to find supplementary markets, but there’s no replacing China,” Johnson said. “To watch (the market) get taken away from us by something completely out of our control, it’s a really hard pill to swallow.” 

In June 2025, Johnson, a director on ASA’s executive committee, attended a trade mission in Tunisia. During meetings with international officials, he was struck by the continued preference for high-quality U.S. soybeans.  

“It just adds salt to the wound, because we’re growing the best soybean crop in the world and we can’t even sell it to our biggest trading partner,” Johnson said.  “This administration has done a lot of good for soybean farmers, but everyone in the soy family knows that our No. 1 priority is open markets with China.”