EU remains important buyer of US soybeans

The EU is, along with China, the largest buyer of US soybeans. However, the Union is announcing its first retaliatory tariffs in response to the US tariff policy. This is likely to have a negative impact on US soybean sales.

The US is the world’s second-largest soybean supplier after Brazil. With a national production of just under 119 million tonnes, around 50 million tonnes of US soybeans are expected to be exported across the world’s oceans in the 2024/25 season. China is the main buyer, but the European Union, which is the second-largest market for the US, also plays a significant role. According to the EU Commission, the Union imported a total of 13.1 million tonnes of soybeans from abroad in the past marketing year. Of these, around 5.9 million tonnes came from Brazil. 5.3 million tonnes were imported from the US, accounting for almost 41% of the total import volume.

The current season has shown a different picture. By 16 March 2025, the EU had imported around 9.6 million tonnes of soybeans from abroad. The largest share (53%) – 5.1 million tonnes – came from the United States. However, according to the German Union for the Promotion of Oilseeds and Cereals (UFOP), this could change soon, as the Brazilian harvest did not take place until February/March 2025 and in the coming months, soybeans from the 2025 harvest are likely to be mainly supplied from South America.

In addition, the EU Commission announced that it intends to introduce punitive duties of 25% on US agricultural products, including soybeans, in response to special duties imposed by the US on imports of steel and aluminium. They could come into force in mid-April. Given the abundant global supply, EU importers are likely to turn in particular to beans from South America to meet demand. Ukraine is also likely to come under increased attention as a supplier. The losers in this case would be American soybean producers, who would lose an important market.

The American Soybean Association (ASA) previously predicted that farmers in the United States would inevitably have to reduce their production, while South America would fill the resulting market void. Another trade war, according to experts, would lead to a permanent decline in market share for American soybeans.

Tags: EU, soybean, USA