China pumps brakes on Indiana soybean purchases amid ongoing trade war

DANVILLE, Ind. — After an appeals court allowed President Donald Trump to implement his most severe tariffs for now, the president announced Friday he would double tariffs on foreign steel from 25% to 50%.

Earlier in the week, two lower courts ruled that the president had overstepped his tariff boundaries, which would have stopped much of his current tariff plan. An appeals court then stayed those rulings, allowing the president to carry out his tariff policy as the court determines the merits of the case.

“With the tariffs, it’s kind of been like a game of whack-a-mole for the last few months,” David Hardin, the owner of Hardin Farms, said. “Whenever, you know, we get some bad news, a few days later we’ll get some good news, and then that cycle seems to repeat.”

According to Hardin, 60% of U.S. soybeans end up in the export market. China buys more than half.

“Right now, we’re being impacted in the fact that China would normally be buying soybeans out of this year’s harvest, the crop that we’ve just planted…they’re still sitting on the sidelines,” Hardin said. “Any way you look at it, it’s going to cause us to look for new markets, new trade partners to work with.”

However, Hardin said expanding the domestic soybean market is easier said than done.

“Right now, the livestock sector in Indiana and the biofuels industry in Indiana are using all the Indiana soybeans that they can handle,” Hardin said. “If we can return to what I would consider more normal trade relations, you know, it will be difficult for us to get back into those markets that we’ve lost because of the tariff wars.”

Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) said he’s hopeful the president will make U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s negotiating framework more transparent in the coming weeks, potentially bringing clarity that the markets may need.

“President Trump ran on a platform of tariffs,” Sen. Young said. “The president is to be commended for the concessions he’s been able to get through these tariffs, and my hope is that now we can start pocketing some of these concessions, maybe ask for a little bit more, renegotiate trade relations, and then move on so that we can all enjoy this golden age of prosperity and innovation.”

“We all are definitely trying to be optimistic and hope that, you know, the administration, is taking some steps to kind of lead us in the right direction,” Hardin said. “In the long run, I think all Indiana farmers just want to see us end up with a stable free trade policy.”