WASHINGTON (AP) — Soybeans, which account for less than 1 percent of U.S. exports, are upstaging weightier issues as the Trump administration tackles trade disputes with China and other countries.
The outsize importance of soybeans — mostly used as animal feed but also consumed by humans in everything from General Tso's Tofu to soy lattes — was apparent recently in two days of U.S.-China trade talks.
The world's two biggest economies didn't make much progress in their dispute over China's aggressive technology policies.
But they did agree on one thing: China said that it would buy 5 million metric tons of American soybeans over an unspecified period.
Critics worry that focusing on getting foreigners to buy U.S. goods is a distraction from the pressuring them to make deeper economic reforms.