President Donald Trump is millions of tons short of meeting a key promise he made to American farmers before starting his trade war with China, according to one analyst.
In October, China agreed to end its boycott of American soybeans, which ended a months-long trade war between the two countries. As part of the deal, China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans by the end of 2025. However, reporting from CNBC in early December showed that the country would likely miss its target.
Acclaimed author and business journalist Aaron Ross Sorkin discussed the issue with Ben Meiselas, podcast host and co-founder of the MeidasTouch Network, on Thursday.
“I repeatedly asked members of the administration about this over the last couple of weeks. The end of the year is basically here—we’re about 15 days away,” Sorkin said. “I think we’ve sold about 300,000 metric tons. So how do you get from 300,000 to 12 million? The math just doesn’t add up.”
“And you can never get a straight answer,” Sorkin said. “Even in the past few weeks, they’ve said, ‘Oh, well, it’s not actually the end of the year. It’s the growing season.’”
Soybeans have become a bit of a sore issue for the Trump administration. Earlier this year, Trump increased tariffs on imported goods from China, prompting the country to retaliate by halting its purchases of American soybeans. Soybeans are a popular and profitable item grown by many farmers across America, a demographic that overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024.
The pain of the trade war became so significant that the administration announced a $12 billion bailout program for American farmers in early December.
However, Sorkin suggested that the pain could continue.
“This could get extended out several months,” he said.
Sorkin: The President said that China was going to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans by the end of the year. I’ve repeatedly asked members of the administration: the end of the year is basically here—we’re about 15 days away. I think we’ve sold about 300,000 metric tons. So… pic.twitter.com/3uDjHVXIFZ — Acyn (@Acyn) December 18, 2025
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