President Donald Trump‘s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box where he discussed the effects of Trump’s tariffs on China, and on American farmers who are having trouble selling their soybeans to the Far East nation, a key customer.
Bessent referred to a meeting he had with his Chinese counterparts in Switzerland and said: “At the meeting in Geneva when I asked them, ‘Why didn’t you continue buying soybeans and the other products?’ — they had one word, and guess what it was? Biden.”
As seen below, there followed an awkward moment of silence, and then Squawk Box host Joe Kernen responded, “That sounds like malarkey. C’mon, man!”
Bessent on China: “At the meeting in Geneva when I asked them, ‘Why didn’t you continue buying soybeans and the other products’ then had one word, and guess what it was? Biden.” pic.twitter.com/IdwciFp2LR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2025
In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping retaliated against Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs by halting all purchases of American soybeans and instead buying from other countries including Argentina, a nation that the U.S. is ready to provide with a $20 billion bailout according to Bessent.
Of the soybeans that American farmers produce, 25 percent were sold to China before the tariff battles began.
Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, has called the situation a “five-alarm fire in our industry.”
Note: During the Biden administration, in 2024, China bought $12.5 billion of the $24.5 billion worth of soybeans the U.S. exported globally—more than 50 percent. Currently the figure is zero.
Soybean farmer: We depend on the Chinese market. And right now we have 0 sold for this crop. It’s a 5 alarm fire for our industry. We are not price competitive with Brazil due to the retaliatory tariffs. Our prices are about 20% higher, and that means that the Chinese are going… pic.twitter.com/NWULmCNDSz
— FactPost (@factpostnews) September 15, 2025