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 told Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" program that 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 said.