Americans question whether EU can really replace China's soybean market

On Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker and U.S. President Donald Trump jointly announced that the European Union had agreed to increase its imports of American soybeans. Following the negotiations between the two leaders, President Trump said that the Europeans had agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans", calling the European Union "a tremendous market".

It looks as if the United States is seeking to replace China’s soybean market with the market in Europe. But some Americans have taken to Twitter to give their president an economics lesson.

"China is the largest importer of soybeans and we are the 2nd largest exporter of the product, right behind Brazil. We are going to lose tons of market share to Brazil that won't be replaced by welfare payments to farmers," said Tom Penrod.

Penrod also shared a chart that shows how China accounts for two-thirds of the total world soybean market. He says there is a "measly amount of imported soybeans into the EU when compared to China."

Bill Spater also compared American soybean exports to China and the European Union, pointing out that even if the European Union raises its imports from the 18 million tons recorded last year, it will be far less than the 95 million tons the United States exported to China.

Cindy Begel called the deal a nightmare for farmers, and accused President Trump of undermining the interests of American farmers and taxpayers, a sentiment echoed by Daniel Rockwell when he replied to a tweet from Presudent Trump, in which he called the president’s trade policies a failure.

"Boasting about getting Europe to buy more soybeans after losing the Chinese market for them is like bragging about getting the RC Cola account after losing the Coca Cola one," said Andrew Otis Weiss.

And lastly, here's the chart on the volumes of the world's major soybean markets.