Reporting from the Carolina Journal is highlighting how North Carolina’s soybean farmers are paying the price for Washington’s chaotic trade war.
As tariffs “squeez[e] farmers’ budgets,” DC insider Michael Whatley has called them “record setting in terms of […] effectiveness” and said he supports them “wholeheartedly.”
Read More:
Carolina Journal: Concern among NC farmers, as China boycotts US soybeans
Katherine Zehnder | October 23, 2025
- Soybeans, one of the state’s top five cash crops, are again caught up in the most recent maneuver in the trade war with China, ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- However, in the current marketing year, which started on Sept. 1, China has not placed any orders for new-crop soybeans, Charles Hall, executive director of the North Carolina Soybean Association, told the Carolina Journal in a recent interview.
- Additionally, China began cutting back on imports of US soybeans after “Liberation Day” in April. Soybeans dropped significantly from 72,000 tons the week of April 10 to only 1,800 tons the week of April 24, reported the Wall Street Journal. Earlier this year, Trump raised the tariff on Chinese goods to 84% and later to 145%. This sparked a retaliation, with China increasing the tariff on US exports to 125%.
- “American farmers feed the world,” Kelly Lester, policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal. “They deserve policies that reward their productivity, not punish it. Using them as leverage in trade negotiations is more than bad economics — it’s a moral failure. If Washington truly wants to support US agriculture, it should focus on restoring access to international markets, reducing regulatory burdens, and promoting open trade.”
- The soybean industry contributes $2.4 billion to the state economy, according to Hall.
###