Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett said Sunday that he, too, “felt pain” that China refused to buy U.S.-grown soybeans during a trade conflict with President Donald Trump because “I’m actually a soybean farmer.”
Bessent’s comment came during an interview with ABC News’ “This Week,” where he said trade negotiations with China over the past two days had led to a “substantial framework” that he believed would ease U.S. soybean farmers’ concerns about the boycott.
Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this week.
Bessent, a former hedge fund executive whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at around $600 million, was asked about the soy boycotts by “This Week” host Martha Raddatz, who noted that “American farmers have really suffered.”
In 2023 and 2024, China purchased more than half of the soybeans grown in the United States, representing almost $12.8 billion in 2024.
But after Trump started a trade war with Beijing earlier this year, China stopped buying soybeans.
“Do you see a real light at the end of the tunnel? Can they allow soy again?” -Raddetz asked.
Bessent responded: “Martha, in case you don’t know, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I’ve felt this pain too.”
Bessent’s government financial disclosure shows he owns soybean and corn farmland in North Dakota that is worth an estimated $5 million to $25 million.
Of that disclosure, Bessent said the farmland generates between $100,000 and $1 million in rental income for him annually.
The Treasury Secretary told Raddatz on Sunday: “I think we’ve addressed farmers’ concerns, and I’m not going to get ahead of the president, but I think when the China deal announcement is made public, our soybean farmers will feel very good about what’s happening both for this season and for years to come.”
