"Brazilian farmers are lobbying to roll back deforestation restrictions in order to sell more soybeans to the huge Chinese market."
"The humble soybean is in the middle of a geopolitical tangle that spans three continents and threatens to devour the world’s largest tropical savanna.
At issue is China’s enormous appetite for soybeans, millions of tons a year, mainly for cooking oil and livestock feed.
Sating that demand has taken a grave toll in recent years on the forests and grasslands of Brazil, China’s biggest supplier. That stands to get worse in the coming months, because China has all but stopped buying American soybeans, giving Brazilian farmers greater incentives to expand into new areas to grow soy.
Earlier this year, the government in Beijing slapped a hefty tariff on American soybeans in retaliation for hefty U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Until then, America had been China’s second-biggest supplier. But now, farmers in the United States have sold not a single bushel to China from this fall’s harvest. Hopes of a relief package from the White House have been delayed by the government shutdown."
Somini Sengupta reports for the New York Times October 15, 2025.
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