President Trump and his trade negotiation team met with China’s Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval office on Thursday with Trump commenting on the soybeans China is promising to buy. But 5 million tons isn’t really that muchAt first, it was reported China would be buying 5 million tons of soybeans a day, but that was corrected to a one-time purchase of 5 million tons. While 5 million tons of soybeans sounds like a huge amount (and it is a lot of soybeans), this needs to be taken in context vs. how many soybeans U.S. farmers grow in a year. Assuming that China does buy the 5 million tons this equates to less than an average amount exported in a month, and overall doesn’t move the financial needle a tremendous amount. The other calculation to keep in mind is the value of 5 million tons of soybeans in relation to the U.S. trade deficit with China.

Source: Forbes February 02, 2019 13:41 UTC