Jim Young/Reuters
Farmer Jim Schielein inspects a field of soybeans on his farm in Dixon, Illinois
- Soybean prices tumbled more than 2% Friday morning.
- President Donald Trump announced the US will move forward with a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.
- The move stokes fears that China will hit back with tariffs on soybeans.
- Watch Soybean prices here.
Soybeans slid Friday morning as the Trump administration hit the world's biggest importer of soy with tariffs on tens of billions of dollars worth of goods, a move Beijing has said it will push back on with its own taxes on major American agricultural goods.
Soybeans were down 2.38% to $9.04 a bushel at 8:45 a.m. ET. Futures for November delivery fell as much as 1.9% on the Chicago Board of Trade to the lowest level in nearly a year.
President Donald Trump said early Friday the US will go through with threats to impose a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. The list of targeted goods includes technology products, especially those that are part of Beijing's Made in China 2025 initiative.
The move all but promises retaliatory measures by China, which threatened to impose a tax of 25% on US soybeans. Officials have warned that trade talks would be called off if the US imposed such tariffs and said the country would respond "in the first instance."
Prices of the legume have slid 12.7% since May 29 amid mounting trade tensions between the world's largest economies. For US soybean traders and farmers alike, any retaliatory response by China targeting the legume would come at a particularly challenging time.
"This down move comes at a time when US farmers have already made their decision on whether to plant corn or beans," said Matthew Garber, a team lead for HC Technologies in Chicago. "Additionally, South American beans will be more attractive and decrease the demand for US soybeans. Hopefully the two sides can come to terms and end this trade war."
