US Soybean Exporters Hit by Halt in Imports to China

26-Dec-2025 09:12 PM

Beijing. Previously, China was the largest importer of soybeans from the United States, but the situation has completely changed. The pace of US soybean imports into China has been extremely slow during the current year. This trend has continued since May 2025 and persisted last month as well.

In November 2025, there were no imports of US soybeans into China, compared to 2.79 million tons imported in November 2024. On the other hand, soybean imports from Brazil to China increased by 48.5 percent to 5.85 million tons during the same period, and imports from Argentina surged by 633.6 percent to 1.78 million tons.

China, the world's largest importer, imported a total of 8.11 million tons of soybeans in November 2025.  Imports from Brazil accounted for 72 percent of this total, and imports from Argentina accounted for 22 percent. The remaining imports came from other countries.

According to a report from China's General Administration of Customs, total soybean imports into China increased sharply during the first 11 months of the current year (January-November 2025), reaching an all-time high of 103.79 million tons.

This clearly indicates that China does not need to rely on the United States for imports of this important oilseed. The trade dispute between the US and China continues, and China is now completely ignoring US pressure. This is causing increasing concern among American producers and exporters. The US has a large exportable surplus of soybeans.

During January-November 2025, China's soybean imports from Brazil increased by 7 percent to 76.7 million tons, while imports from Argentina surged by 62.5 percent to 6.24 million tons. On the other hand, soybean imports from the United States fell by 5.9 percent to 16.82 million tons. These imports occurred during the January-May period.