Farmers urge ending the trade war as China shuts down US soybeans

With fall harvest underway, farmers and agriculture industry associations are pleading for an end to a trade war that they say hurts US exports of soybeans and other crops.

China is normally the largest buyer of US soybeans, which are the country’s top food export. But because of tariffs, it has not bought any US soybeans from this fall’s crop, including from Illinois, which is the nation’s largest soybean grower. Instead, China sharply increased their purchase of Argentine soybeans in September.

“We have one billion bushels of soybeans that don’t have a home. So many (US) farmers are hurting now,” John Bartman, a fifth-generation farmer in Marengo, said. “This is a man-made disaster caused by Donald Trump and his administration.”

Bartman grows soybeans and corn at Bartman Family Farms, about 1 1/2 hours northwest of Chicago. He spoke on a virtual media call organized by the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday.

The DNC also released videos and YouTube ads featuring Bartman that target Republican districts in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Kentucky. The five-figure ad campaign focused on agriculture and kicks off the DNC’s campaigning for the midterm elections in 2026.

“This chaotic tariff policy is creating so much uncertainty for our producers and we have seen this before,” US Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) said on Tuesday’s call. “During (Trump’s) first term, the president’s trade war caused our farmers to lose $27 billion in exports, and unfortunately, history is repeating itself and American farmers are caught in the middle.”

Trump is weighing an aid package for farmers. He said in a Truth Social post this month, “The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying. We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers.”

But Bartman said, “We don’t want bailouts. We want markets for our crops. …While American farmers suffer, who benefits? South America.” Bailouts are like putting “Band-Aids on bullet wounds,” he added.

Farmers are also seeing higher costs for supplies such as fertilizer, as well as equipment.

“The supply chain is all screwed up,” said Bartman, who had to drive to Minnesota to find a part for his combine. “Manufacturers don’t know what to do because tariffs change every week.”

He also expressed frustration over the federal government shutdown. “We don’t have time,” Bartman said. “People should be in Washington debating this. We need help.”