Gaishi Sanae's first act after taking office: Japan bought U.S. soybeans that China didn't buy!
It is estimated that Trump will soon find a place for the unsold U.S. soybeans.
On the 22nd, Reuters reported that the new Japanese female prime minister Gaishi Sanae is preparing a plan to purchase U.S. pickups, soybeans, and natural gas, and will present it to Trump at the upcoming U.S.-Japan meeting.
A source said that Japan may reduce its purchases of Brazilian soybeans in order to make room for importing U.S. soybeans, which already account for 70% of Japan's consumption.
Japan does import soybeans, with over 93% of the soybeans on the market coming from abroad, but from a data perspective, Japan may not have the capacity to take on the surplus U.S. soybeans this year.
Japan imports about 3.3 million to 5 million tons of soybeans annually, while U.S. soybeans had accumulated about 8 million tons by the end of September this year - even if the Gaishi Sanae government is willing to be the "buyer", fully importing U.S. soybeans, such a large volume of surplus clearly exceeds the carrying capacity of the Japanese market.
In the April 2023 U.S.-Japan trade negotiations, the Ishiba administration had considered increasing the import of U.S. soybeans as a bargaining chip, but it was ultimately not included in the agreement - this indirectly proves the limited actual demand of Japan.
Therefore, the newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister Gaishi Sanae's plan to import more U.S. soybeans can be interpreted as an attempt to please Trump, or as a negotiation strategy.
Now the Japanese should have realized this, that Trump only cares about whether the numbers can be used for his publicity, and when these investment commitments and purchase agreements are actually fulfilled is another matter.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1846734925151428/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.