President Trump’s tariff fight with China has particularly hit soybean farmers. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says he feels their pain.
“If you don’t know this, I am actually a soybean farmer. So, I have also felt this pain,” Besant said on Sunday. ABC News’ This Week,
A former hedge fund manager, Besant has a net worth of approximately $600 million, according to forbesaccording to them public financial disclosure Filed in January, he owns corn and soybean farmland worth between $5 million and $25 million in North Dakota. Through revenue sharing agreements with those who produce crops, agricultural land generates rental income of between $100,000 and $1 million for Besant.
Besant’s comments came when she, along with a US delegation that included Trade Representative Jameson Greer and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang and Chinese Vice Prime Minister He Lifeng in Malaysia this weekend.
The US is typically the top supplier of soybeans to China. Last year, US farmers sold $12.64 billion worth of soybeans to Chinese buyers, According to the Department of Agriculture (USDA)But it has come to naught during Trump’s trade war.
To add insult to injury, Chinese importers last month bought Just days after the US announced a $20 billion financial lifeline for Buenos Aires, more than 1 million tons of soybeans arrived from Argentina. According to Reuters,
during the weekend meetingBoth sides “addressed” the concerns of American soybean farmers, Bessant said. The Treasury Secretary said that once the trade deal with China is announced, “our soybean farmers will feel great for many years, both this season and seasons to come.”
Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.
