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US Soy Ships Pile Into China as Summit Delay Clouds Trade
Uncertainty Weighs on Soybean Prices
A wave of U.S. soybeans reached Chinese shores this year as a deal between the two nations revived the trade. But the delay of President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing is clouding prospects over how long the influx will last.
China brought in 1.45 million tons of U.S. soybeans in February, the most since June, according to data from China customs. That added to 38,002 tons that arrived in January.
They mark the first arrivals of a flurry of cargoes booked by state buyers after Trump and counterpart Xi Jinpingstruck a trade trucein late October.
Still, after meeting an initial 12-million-ton pledge, China’s purchases have recently stalled.
Traders expectedfresh buyingcould materialize near a Trump and Xi summit that was slated for late March, but the U.S. president is now focused on military operations in Iran and said this week that the meeting has beenpostponedto mid-May.
The uncertainty has weighed on soybean prices, with Chicago futures headed for a weekly drop of around 4.5%, the most in nearly a year and breaking a six-week rally. Hedge funds had been heavily long on soybeans, which also left the market vulnerable to a correction, according toMatt Bennett, co-founder at .
Trump signaled “the meeting might be off. Now we’ve found out later that the meeting was just going to be postponed,” Bennett said in an appearance on WillAg.Org’s Closing Market Report broadcast on March 19. “I think they all got spooked by a combination of those two things along with a little better forecast for Argentina.”
China’s U.S. soybean imports also remain much lower than those from top supplier Brazil. The country’s market share has grown amid Beijing’s yearslong push to diversify purchases and cut dependence on the U.S. Brazilian imports totaled 6.56 million tons in the first two months of 2026, more than 80% higher than a year earlier, according to the data.
