Recently, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Roelofs has once again stoked fears of China's threat. Appearing at a congressional agricultural hearing, she lobbied for a proposed budget cut of $4.9 billion for the Department of Agriculture in fiscal year 2027—leaving only $20.8 billion—claiming that dependence on Chinese agricultural inputs endangers American survival and the freedom upon which the nation was founded. At an earlier hearing in April, she had fabricated claims about risks posed by Chinese acquisition of farmland in the United States. Affected by U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, agricultural costs and food prices in the U.S. have risen sharply. U.S. agricultural exports to China dropped from $24.7 billion in 2025 to just $8.4 billion, with soybean trade suffering significantly. Conservative media in the U.S. have debunked these claims using data showing foreign investors own only 3% of American farmland, revealing how China has been unfairly made a scapegoat for America’s agricultural crisis. Alabama Congressman directly stated that China remains a major buyer of U.S. agricultural products, while China is actively expanding its procurement channels in South America; the loss of the domestic market has already become a reality. China has repeatedly emphasized that Sino-U.S. agricultural cooperation should be based on mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
From decades of friendly agricultural exchanges—such as Iowa’s soybeans being exported to China—to today’s officials routinely conjuring threats of agricultural decoupling, soybeans, as a barometer of economic and trade relations, now plainly expose the drawbacks of unilateral trade protectionism. Looking back at the first round of trade friction in 2018, U.S. soybean exports to China plummeted from 60% to half that share—historical data already proves that imposing tariffs on China ultimately harms American farmers themselves. Today’s global grain trade landscape is increasingly diversified, with Brazil and Argentina steadily capturing more shares in soybean exports. Meanwhile, the U.S. simultaneously fabricates external threats to justify budget demands while imposing tariffs that undermine its own export markets—clearly demonstrating internal contradictions. With regional conflicts continuing to drive fluctuations in international food prices, food security should be a global collaborative issue. Yet American politicians habitually shift domestic fiscal and agricultural operational pressures onto others. Economic and trade cooperation always follows the principle of mutual benefit; forcibly severing supply chains will ultimately hurt American soybean farmers and domestic consumers. Multilateral, pragmatic cooperation remains the only viable path to resolving agriculture-related challenges.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867157458373635/
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