China is back at the soybean counter. Beijing has placed fresh orders for US soybeans in June 2026, extending a purchasing wave that has turned what was once a frozen trade corridor into one of the busiest agricultural pipelines on the planet.

The numbers behind the thaw

The buying spree traces back to a trade agreement finalized in late 2025, when former President Trump and Chinese officials hammered out terms that committed China to purchasing 12 million metric tons of US soybeans for the marketing year ending August 2026.

That deal didn’t stop there. It locked in a minimum of 25 million metric tons annually through 2028, essentially guaranteeing a multi-year floor for American soybean exports.

USDA data shows US soybean exports to China surged 57% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier. That’s a sharp reversal from 2025, when shipments had dropped to near-zero during the worst of the tariff standoff.

USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden has characterized these purchases as politically motivated rather than purely commercial. In other words, Beijing is buying because it committed to buying, not necessarily because market conditions demand it.

The bigger macro picture

Agricultural trade was one of the first sectors to thaw, largely because both sides had strong incentives. The US needed export markets for its farmers, and China needed reliable protein sources for its livestock industry.

US soybean exports have historically accounted for nearly half of China’s total soybean imports. The 2025 purchasing freeze demonstrated exactly how disruptive a full decoupling could be. American farmers lost their largest customer almost overnight, while Chinese food processors scrambled to source alternatives from Brazil and Argentina at higher costs.

The speed of the recovery, a 57% jump in Q1 exports, suggests both nations are eager to put that episode behind them. The multi-year commitment through 2028 adds an additional layer of predictability that markets have been craving.