Prices for soybean’s May contracts dropped 0.5% on Wednesday, while corn contracts declined 1%. The moves are relatively mild as U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports were largely expected and Beijing has already announced 10% to 15% retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural exports including soybeans and corn.
But if China decides to raise those levies, the impact on agricultural markets could be even bigger. American farmers could see a significant part of their export sales shift to competing suppliers like Brazil and Argentina.
Soybean prices have already fallen from $15 per bushel two years ago to around $10 this week due to favorable weather in major production regions and higher yields.