President Donald Trump listed rare earths, fentanyl and soybeans as the U.S.’s top issues with China just before the two sides return to the negotiating table and as a fragile trade truce nears expiration.
“I don’t want them to play the rare earth game with us,” Trump said on Air Force One on Oct. 19 as he headed back to Washington from Florida. Days earlier, the President threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese shipments after Beijing vowed to exert broad controls on rare earth minerals.
Trump also said the U.S. wanted China “to stop with the fentanyl,” a reference to his accusation that Beijing has failed to curb exports of the drug and its precursor chemicals, contributing to the American opioid crisis. Another key demand was for the world’s No. 2 economy to resume soybean purchases. The three topics were all “very, you know, normal things,” he added.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the U.S. and China will hold talks later this week in Malaysia. That came after he met virtually withChina’s Vice Premier on Oct. 10, discussions that Chinese state media described as a constructive exchange of views.
Soybeans have been a key source of leverage for China in the trade dispute. Last year, China bought some $12.6 billion worth of the oilseed but this year that figure is zero. China has instead turned to purchases from South America.
Frustrations among U.S. farmers — a key Trump support base — are mounting, with many running out of storage for unsold beans and facing pressure from lower prices. They are eagerly awaiting aid from Washington, which is held up because of the government shutdown.
In August, the President urged China to quadruple its buying of soybeans from the U.S. Underscoring his frustration that it isn’t happening, last week he threatened to stop imports of cooking oil from China, which he accused of intentionally “causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers.”