China Snaps Up US Soybeans in Sudden Buying Spree After Trump–Xi Call

China has bought at least ten U.S. soybean cargoes potentially as many as fifteen worth roughly $300 million in deals signed since Tuesday, according to traders familiar with the transactions. The surge in buying comes just one day after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which Trump said he pushed for and received agreement from Xi to accelerate Chinese purchases of American goods. For months, China had cut back sharply on U.S. soybeans due to a standoff in bilateral trade relations, shifting purchases to cheaper Brazilian supplies. But following late-October talks between the two leaders in South Korea and a gradual warming in rhetoric, Beijing has returned to the U.S. market, with state-run COFCO leading the charge and booking nearly 2 million tons since late October, according to USDA data.

This sudden wave of purchases marks a notable shift in the trajectory of U.S.–China trade relations, particularly in the agricultural sector, which has often been at the center of political tensions. Despite U.S. beans being more expensive than Brazilian alternatives, China’s willingness to buy deeply into the U.S. pipeline signals that political signals from the top leadership may be overriding pure market pricing. For Washington, the deals provide Trump with a visible early win as he attempts to show progress in rebalancing trade commitments. For Beijing, the move allows China to demonstrate goodwill without making larger structural concessions. Still, the volumes remain substantially below the 12 million tons of purchases the White House had previously announced, highlighting a gap between political messaging and commercial reality. The broader agreement cited by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 87.5 million tons over three and a half years provides a long-term framework, but its credibility hinges on China’s continued follow-through.

Several groups stand to be directly affected by this renewed buying activity. For U.S. farmers and exporters, these contracts provide much-needed demand stability after months of uncertainty and volatile pricing. China’s state-run importer COFCO is playing the central role in executing these purchases, reflecting the government’s tight control over politically sensitive imports. In Washington, the Biden administration—facing pressure to deliver economic wins sees agricultural purchases as an important metric of progress in bilateral ties. Chinese buyers and crushers also have a stake, as they balance domestic feedstock needs with political instructions and cost considerations. Meanwhile, Brazil, the world’s top soybean exporter, watches from the sidelines as U.S. cargoes reclaim some lost market share, potentially reshaping global trade flows if the trend continues.

The next phase will be closely watched for whether China sustains this buying pace or if the recent deals represent a politically timed surge rather than a sustained shift. Traders will look for additional tenders in December and January, especially since all current cargoes are scheduled for January shipment from the Gulf Coast and Pacific Northwest. Washington is expected to continue pressuring Beijing to meet or exceed the volumes outlined in recent agreements, particularly the 87.5-million-ton multi-year target referenced by the Treasury Department. Market participants will also monitor price spreads between U.S. and Brazilian soybeans, which could influence how much of the buying is driven by policy rather than economics. If political warmth persists after the Trump–Xi call, more U.S. shipments could follow; if tensions reescalate, these deals could prove temporary. The coming weeks will provide clearer signals on whether this is a tactical gesture or the start of a broader realignment in soybean trade.

Tags: China, Brazil, soybeans, purchases, U.S.