China is investing billions in Latin America, planning to sideline US farmers for decades to come.
Chinese state-backed money is remaking South American ports — from Santos to Chancay — reshaping grain routes to Asia and squeezing U.S. farmers as tariffs deepen the split with Washington.
Chinese port upgrades in South America currently focus on ports in Brazil and Peru. The upgrades to both ports’ infrastructure will facilitate making them a hub for the export of minerals like lithium, copper, and agricultural products such as SOYBEANS TO CHINA. In other words, the Chinese plan on shifting their agricultural imports from the U.S. to South America.
Yes, that’s it – Trump – for whom about 99% of soybean farmers voted for — has screwed them over for the foreseeable future by driving the Chinese to other agricultural suppliers who don’t throw tariffs at China.
How are American farmers taking this grand news? As always, the few who do comment for these types of articles try to put up a stoic face:
As China establishes new trade routes across Latin America, every new port or shipping lane makes a future recovery for U.S. farmers more challenging.
US soybean farmers are somewhat confused, don’t know what to expect. Their opinions and outlook are all over the place.
“I don’t think our relationship with China has been damaged,” one Iowa soybean farmer said. “China is a low-cost buyer and will need soybeans from the U.S. for a long time. But we will never be their number one source.”
The quote is from April Hemmes, and Iowan farmer. She does admit that the U.S. though is not a “reliable partner” because of politics. Also, she doesn’t believe the Chinese will buy the 12 million metric tons of soybeans they promised by January of 2026. She just doesn’t think it’s possible to do that now. The number of metric tons ordered by China from the U.S. has not yet been confirmed, but it’s definitely not 12 million metric tons as of yet.
Oh, and Trump loving soybean farmer Caleb Ragland says:
“U.S. soybean farmers are standing at a trade and financial precipice,” Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, wrote in a statement.
Ragland has been pounding that same damn dumb drumbeat this entire year. He still believes in his heart that Trump is going to save the day. Somehow.
But the “deal” that Trump made with the Chinese means that soybean farmers are going to be selling LESS over the length of Trump’s second term and likely well past then.
The facts are that the Chinese are going to expand those port facilities to exceed the capacity of current American ports. It is not pretty. Let’s t focus on secondary impacts to the economy: Reduced soybean exports mean (1) dock workers are not going to have jobs; (2) the US will not need as many trucks and river barges to transport soybeans to ports; (3) the communities that depend on soybean exports to China will go into permanent recession.
Meanwhile, agriculture analysts admit these latest moves by the Chinese mean a PERMANENT SHIFT away from American farmers to South America instead. Why: BECAUSE OF TRUMP AND HIS TARIFFS –the Chinese want reliable partners who will treat them fairly and not pull political stunts.
Way to go Trump!