Grassley says finalizing soybean deal with China would be morale booster for Iowa farmers
WASHINGTON — Soybean prices jumped after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement on Sunday that he anticipates China will revive substantial purchases of US soybeans for several years after two days of trade talks in Malaysia.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says getting a deal done with China would be a morale booster for Iowa farmers. “The president hasn’t sat down with Xi yet, so when I see the Secretary of Treasury, with a great amount of authority from the president to negotiate, and he’s very positive about what it is with final word coming from the President of the United States, I think I feel good about what I’ve heard so far.”
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has said that a farm rescue package will not be needed if there’s a soybean deal with China. Grassley disagrees. “Farmers still need the money that’s going to come from the Federal Treasury because of so much uncertainty that comes from the tariff program of the president. Besides that, I don’t know why she’d say that when the president says they are thinking about a bailout. If he would announce a soybean deal and he wants E-15 year-round, then maybe there’d be less necessity for a bailout.”
Reuters was reporting this morning that China has bought three US soybean cargoes ahead of the summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping.
