UPDATE 1-China to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans this season, Bessent says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that China has agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of American soybeans during the current season through January and has committed to buying 25 million tons annually for the next three years as part of a larger trade agreement with Beijing.

Bessent said other countries in Southeast Asia have agreed to buy another 19 million tons of U.S. soybeans, but did not specify a timeframe for those purchases. "So our great soybean farmers, who the Chinese used as political pawns - that's off the table, and they should prosper in the years to come," Bessent told Fox Business Network.

Soy bean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were about 1% higher in early U.S. trading on Thursday after Bessent's interview with "Mornings with Maria." In 2024, the U.S. exported nearly

27 million metric tons of soybeans to China.

Trump wrote in a social media post overnight following his meeting with Xi in South Korea that the Chinese leader had authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of soybeans, sorghum and other farm products. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins applauded Trump's comments on soybeans and sorghum in a post on X.