Soy long, America: China buys zero US beans for first time in 7 years; trade war intensifies

For the first time in seven years, China has completely halted imports of US soybeans, leaving American farmers cut off from their largest overseas customer just as the autumn harvest begins. September shipments from the US fell to zero, a sharp contrast to last year’s 1.7 million metric tons. China’s overall soybean imports remained at elevated levels, with South American shipments surging to fill the gap. In September, China purchased 12.87 million metric tons of soybeans, its second-highest monthly total on record. Brazilian shipments rose 29.9% year-on-year to 10.96 million tons, accounting for 85.2% of China’s total imports, while Argentina’s deliveries jumped 91.5% to 1.17 million tons, or 9% of the total. Analysts attribute the zero US imports primarily to Beijing’s tariffs an