Beijing's threat to impose a 25% tariff on American soybeans is causing uneasiness in the farm belt after the White House's decision Friday to announce new duties on hundreds of Chinese products.
CNBC reports the U.S. exports about $14 billion worth of soybeans to China, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. China buys roughly half of the U.S. soybean exports, and roughly one in three rows of soybeans grown on the nation's farms goes to the world's second-largest economy, according to industry estimates.
"I am nervous to think about the scenarios of what's going to happen if it does go into effect," says Heath Houck, a soybean farmer in Nokomis, IL, to CNBC. "In the last three to five years, with the depressed farming economy the way it is, it can certainly hamper us even further. It kind of scares me, to be honest."
Read the full report here.
