On October 20, Reuters once again broke the news that in September of this year, China did not purchase a single grain of soybeans from the United States. This is the first time in nearly seven years since 2018 that such an import "zero" phenomenon has occurred.

China has always been the world's largest importer of soybeans, but this time the "zero imports" of U.S. soybeans have not been due to a reduction in Chinese market demand.

On the contrary, data released by the General Administration of Customs will undoubtedly be a "painful" reminder for the U.S. side:

In the first nine months of this year, China's total soybean imports increased by 5.3% compared to the same period last year. In September alone, the import volume reached 12.869 million tons, increasing by 4.8% month-on-month and 13.2% year-on-year, directly ranking second in historical同期import volumes.

Evidently, China's soybean demand has not decreased, but the U.S. is simply no longer on the procurement list.

Faced with this situation, American farmers are already "anxious".

According to reports, in order to make up for the loss, they have even gone to Vietnam, the Philippines, and other places, trying to persuade local livestock farmers to increase their purchases of U.S. soybeans.

However, the scale is there, and they themselves know that it is impossible to find a big market that can replace China in a short period of time.

Interestingly, at this critical moment, Trump is still holding onto his fantasy, playing his own "small game".

He proposed the idea that Washington might lower the import tariffs on Chinese goods, but as an exchange, China needs to change its policies on rare earth metals and resume the purchase of U.S. soybeans.

Furthermore, he explicitly categorized rare earths, fentanyl, and soybeans as the three key issues to be resolved in Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.

In response to these unreasonable demands by Trump, China made a clear response, reiterating that the tariff war and trade war do not benefit any party.

And it sent the U.S. six words: "Equality, respect, mutual benefit," clearly defining the bottom line and principles of negotiations.

It must be said that Trump's understanding is still filled with "arrogance."

China's implementation of rare earth export controls is not targeted at anyone, but rather a routine move to optimize its own export management system, and a necessary measure to build a long-term national security system.

Even if the U.S. makes concessions in other areas, China will not disrupt its own pace.

On the issue of fentanyl, the responsibility lies with the U.S. itself. The serious abuse of fentanyl in the U.S. stems from its own problems in social governance and drug regulation.

But the U.S. ignored China's goodwill and insisted on imposing additional tariffs on fentanyl. Now, they are bringing it up again, which is essentially an attempt to shift responsibility and pressure China.

The current state of soybean trade is a direct verification of Trump's fantasies.

China's soybean imports in September set a new high for the same period, yet none of them were from the U.S. Reliable trading partners like Brazil have already filled the gap, indicating that China doesn't lack alternative sources. Now, it's Trump who needs China, yet he is still "showing off".

The unsold U.S. soybeans are the bitter fruit of the tariffs imposed by Trump.

The six words "Equality, Respect, Mutual Benefit" clearly defined the bottom line of the negotiation, and the U.S. side needs to respect the logic of "market choice" instead of forcing the other party to pay through hegemonic thinking.

As the world's largest soybean importer, China's shift to purchasing from South America is a commercial decision: soybeans from Brazil and other South American countries are affordable and supply is stable.

By contrast, the U.S. has weakened the price competitiveness of its own soybeans by imposing tariffs, while also demanding China to "resume purchases," and even labeling normal market choices as "economic hostile actions."

This attitude of "only talking about interests but not rules" is completely opposite to the six words "Equality, Respect, Mutual Benefit."

If Trump remains immersed in his "art of transactions," believing that he can gain benefits by making unilateral demands, it is nothing more than a foolish dream.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563335521540260352/

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