Trump trade war dries up sorghum sales to China but US farmers plan to plant more

Tom Polansek

Tue, Apr 15, 2025, 2:01 AM 5 min read

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's commercialized warfare with China comes astatine a atrocious clip for sorghum growers similar Dan Atkisson successful Kansas, who is nevertheless preparing to summation plantings by 25% this spring.

China accounted for astir 90% of U.S. sorghum exports past year, ramping up purchases of the harvest it uses to provender livestock and marque fiery baijiu liquor. Those purchases person mostly crushed to a halt, arsenic tit-for-tat tariff increases by the U.S. and China cripple commercialized betwixt the world's 2 largest economies.

U.S. sorghum exports to China dropped to 78,316 metric tons successful January and February from much than 1.4 cardinal metric tons implicit the aforesaid play a twelvemonth earlier, down 95%, according to U.S. authorities data.

China bought 244 metric tons successful the week ended connected April 3, a miniscule amount, aft purchasing nary for the erstwhile 3 weeks, the latest information showed.

The diminution is simply a stroke to farmers who mostly backed Trump successful his campaigns for president. Some are forgoing sorghum plantings owed to concerns astir marketplace disruptions, portion others, faced with fewer bully options, are readying to works more. Some growers are besides present questioning their enactment for Trump's commercialized policies.

"If we determination guardant and things are not handled well, we could rethink immoderate of those things," Atkisson said. He plans to works astir 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of sorghum successful Stockton, Kansas, up 200 acres from past year, arsenic portion of a harvest rotation.

U.S. farmers connected mean mean to grow plantings of the atom by 4% this twelvemonth to the highest since 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said past month. Meanwhile, the bureau projected soybean seedings astatine a five-year debased and outpouring wheat plantings astatine their lowest since 1970.

Dry upwind conditions are pushing immoderate farmers toward drought-tolerant sorghum successful the hopes of a speedy extremity to the commercialized warfare oregon generous assistance from the Trump administration.

Economists accidental prospects for a speedy solution are uncertain, and Brooke Rollins, the U.S. agriculture secretary, has said the medication could beryllium months distant from announcing a bailout program for farmers.

Trump volition grow markets for the U.S. agriculture manufacture and "ensure farmers person the enactment they request to provender the world," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.

Trump repeatedly raised tariffs connected Chinese goods since imposing sweeping 10% duties successful February, sparking rounds of retaliation from Beijing. China accrued its tariffs connected U.S. products to 125% past week.

Without Chinese demand, U.S. farmers and atom companies look little prices for sorghum sold for domestically produced ethanol oregon cattle feed, growers said.