Sen. Thune: Farmers will need government aid as China stops buying U.S. soybeans

[Senators Speak To The Press After Weekly Policy Luncheons]
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images News

American farmers will need financial assistance from the government this year, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said, as President Donald Trump's tariff policies have impacted market access for certain U.S. commodities.

"There are markets right now that aren't open to some of our commodities," Thune said on _NBC's Meet the Press_. "As a consequence of that, we've got a big harvest coming in here in South Dakota, corn, soybeans, and no place to go with it."

"… our farmers are probably going to need some financial assistance this year. And a lot of the revenue coming in off the tariffs is what they would use to provide that," he added [https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-september-28-2025-n1312790].

China stopped buying U.S. soybeans since May, and has instead pivoted to suppliers in Brazil and Argentina. Thune said China has been paying higher prices per bushel to these countries "simply to punish the U.S. and our farmers."

"China is the world's largest soybean customer and typically our top export market," Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, said [https://soygrowers.com/news-releases/asa-responds-to-argentina-soybean-actions/] last week. "The U.S. has made zero sales to China this new crop marketing year. This has allowed other exporters, Brazil and now Argentina, to capture our market at the direct expense of U.S. farmers."

According to the Department of Agriculture, U.S. soybean farmers experienced ~$9.4B in annualized losses during the U.S.-China trade war in 2018.

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