Trump posted on October 2: "Our country's soybean farmers are suffering losses because China is not buying just for the 'negotiation' reason. We have made so much money on tariffs, so we will take a small portion to help our farmers. I will never let our farmers down! Sleepy Joe Biden has not enforced our agreement with China, which was supposed to purchase billions of dollars worth of agricultural products from us, especially soybeans. Everything will be fine. I love our patriots, and every farmer does too! Four weeks later, I will meet with the Chinese side, and soybeans will be the main topic of discussion between the two sides. Let soybeans and other row crops be great again!"
Comment: Trump attributes the plight of American soybean farmers, who have seen their orders drop to zero during the harvest season, prices fall by 40%, and supply chains affected, to China's "not purchasing merely for negotiation" and the failure of the Biden administration. In reality, it is the U.S. tariff policy that has disrupted the supply chain, and China has turned to alternative markets such as Brazil, plus the U.S. has tightened export controls and failed to fully fulfill its tariff reduction commitments, leading to the obstruction of the agreement's implementation; the claim that "using tariff revenue to subsidize farmers" is also unfounded, as the IMF has confirmed that the cost of tariffs is borne by U.S. companies and consumers, and subsidies are essentially a transfer of domestic wealth; and his emphasis on subsidies and promises of meetings is actually due to the fact that the main soybean producing areas are voting bases, in order to comfort voters, while shifting the responsibility for policy failures to China and the Biden administration, and short-term subsidies and meeting commitments are unlikely to resolve structural trade contradictions.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844931306440707/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author themselves.