Posted on 09/25/2025 5:21:41 PM PDT by Miami Rebel
The Trump administration threw Argentina a financial life raft this week, and Argentina promptly responded by offering China an enticement in the form of untaxed soybeans.
Why it matters: It's a harsh blow to already struggling U.S. soybean farmers, and illustrates the complex implications of rescuing a close ally.
Driving the news: On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced concepts for broad financial support to stabilize Argentina's economy, including potential loans, currency purchases and debt buying. Argentina's currency, the peso, rallied on the news.
Argentina, looking to rake in more capital, suspended its export taxes on several products Monday, including its 26% soybean tax. That attracted China, historically the top buyer of U.S. soybeans, to Argentina. China doubled Argentine soybean purchases overnight Tuesday to 20 cargoes, following an uptick earlier in the week. This further priced out U.S. soybean farmers, who are already grappling with a 20% tariff imposed by China on their soybeans. Several industry experts and farmers told Axios they have received zero orders from China this year and that measures like this are hurting their profits. Most years, China buys more than half the soybeans grown in the U.S., per the New York Times. What they're saying: "The soybean farmers have been screaming for assistance since we took office," a senior White House administration official tells Axios. "So this isn't new. And the president is going to help."
The president has two pots of money through which he can distribute aid, and there's talk of diverting some tariff revenue to farmers, the official says. As for Argentina: "You saw the interaction with Milei," the official notes, referring to President Trump's meeting with the Argentine president and subsequent endorsement of his reelection at the U.N. General Assembly.
"The president likes him. That goes a long way. But even so, Argentina is an important ally and we're determined to help where we can." Zoom out: Argentina is of major geopolitical importance to the Trump administration. Unlike previous administrations in recent memory, the Trump administration has made Latin America a focus, especially as China gains a foothold in the hemisphere.
Along with Chile, Argentina controls one bank of the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. Argentina is rich in natural resources, including oil and gas reserves, uranium and lithium used in batteries. Milei is governing in a Trump-like populist style and has repurposed MAGA as "Make Argentina Great Again."
That fact that Milei couldn't even wait a decent interval before stabbing US interests in the back is not a good sign.
Thank President Trump for cutting foreign aid everywhere. All these backstabbing moocher countries don’t deserve it.
Argentina has defaulted on its debt four times in the last half-century.
While China has been getting 54% of U.S soybean exports - down since 2022 actually - that represents only 22% of U.S. soybean production. The U.S. uses a lot of soybeans domestically and exports soybeans to many countries and right now I have no doubt Argentine farmers have been worse off than U.S. farmers.
I think our farmers have maybe concentrated too much on soybeans and may need, for their own benefit, see what else they can grow and profitably export.
“...China, historically the top buyer of U.S. soybeans...”
That’s because China buys practically nothing else from the USA, hence the gigantic trillion dollar trade deficit with China. Communist China has been ripping us off for decades. Sorry for the farmers but the tariffs are the great equalizer.
well, those us farmers should’ve know not to over plant soybeans.
subsidized crops has made them addicted to hand outs.
Time for a color revolution in Buenos Aires?
TRUMP DOES NOT LIKE DOUBLE-CROSSERS
Argentina dropped their tax on soybean exports. They are not stabbing anyone in the back. The tax was meant to lower domestic price by giving Argentina consumers an advantage over Chinese consumers.
By the “they stabbed Trump in the back logic” we should have an agreement export tax on oil and gas sold to China.
I agree 100%, but too much logic for this thread.
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