Soybean farmers have been caught in the U.S. trade war with China since July 2018. After the U.S. put tariffs on Chinese imports, China placed levies on U.S. goods, including a 25 percent tax on American soybeans.
The unstable trade relationship has caused soybean prices to plummet and the USDA put a trade mitigation package in place for farmers.
Despite other countries emerging as U.S. soybean customers, no one country can make up for the volume of soybeans traditionally shipped to China.