Soybeans had been a bellwether commodity during the trade dispute between the United States and China that began in 2018. On the campaign trail in 2015 and 2016, US President Donald Trump pledged to level the playing field on international trade. He repeatedly pointed his finger at China as the nation with the world's second-leading GDP still operated under the trade protocols that were in place when it was an emerging market. The President argued that those days were long gone.
In the past, China purchased one of every four bushels of soybeans produced in