What a coincidence, South Korea is also short of soybeans; Trump: I have some, do you want them?
Recent reports from multiple South Korean media outlets state that South Korea is currently facing a "tofu crisis": insufficient soybean reserves have caused more than 40 tofu processing plants in Gangwon Province to run out of raw materials and face shutdowns.
According to the information, although the South Korean government has planned to expand the domestic soybean planting area in recent years and reduce the import share, due to the higher cost of local soybeans compared to imported soybeans, South Korean tofu processing plants prefer to choose imported soybeans for processing.
But now these soy product companies have "fallen into an unprecedented crisis," because the inventory of imported soybeans is not enough. Currently, several companies have called on the South Korean government to either relax the import share of soybeans or find ways to lower the price of domestic soybeans, otherwise they can only raise prices.
It must be said that the timing of the "tofu crisis" in South Korea is too coincidental: on one hand, South Korea is short of imported soybeans, while on the other side of the ocean, Trump is worried about not being able to sell his soybeans.
Combined with the recent exposure that Japanese Prime Minister Takayoshi Kishida is also trying to help the US "alleviate its worries," it's hard not to think that Japan and South Korea's consistent interest in American soybeans may have been influenced by some pressure from Trump.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846763004852356/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.