China-US Trade Tensions: US soybean farmers want markets, not subsidies

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One sector taking a hit from the trade tensions between China and the US is agriculture. The US is a major producer and exporter of soybeans. Farmers there are worried about losing China, the largest soybean export market; although Washington says it will take care of them. CGTN's Christy Scull has the story.

Iowa, in the US Midwest, is the country's second-largest soybean producing state. Since the Trump administration launched its tariff offensive against China, soybean prices have fallen by about 20 percent since the beginning of this year. Farmer Sean Harmon is not thrilled with the coming harvest.

SEAN HARMON SOYBEAN FARMER IN IOWA "Where they are at current today's prices, it's tough to make a profit out of them. Current market price, things are really, the margins are really tight right now, [which] makes it tough."

Harmon says in the last few years, soybean farmers have tightened their belts, but now he is thinking about planting other crops.

SEAN HARMON SOYBEAN FARMER IN IOWA "The prices in the last couple of years have gone down. After harvest, when we sit down to plan next year's crop, we'll just see where prices are, and if corn is more profitable, then I'll just plant more corn and less soybeans."

In the past years, more than 30 percent of Iowa's soybeans have been sold to China. This year, Harmon is worried that trade frictions could cost them long-time trade partners. Harmon said farmers like him in Iowa rate the China market higher than the government's subsidy policy.

SEAN HARMON SOYBEAN FARMER IN IOWA "No one knows how they're going to hand out the money, per the crop or per acre, but it's not something we can count on going forward."

Harmon says he hopes both sides will come to the table and pull the plug on tariffs. CGTN.