WASHINGTON —
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Friday (September 19) that Taiwan has pledged to purchase $10 billion in U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans, corn, wheat, and beef, over the next four years. This is part of Taiwan’s efforts to persuade the United States to reduce tariffs on its products.
Rollins tweeted on social media platform X on Friday morning: “Breaking! Trade win: Taiwan just committed to purchase $10 billion in U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans, corn, wheat, and beef, over the next four years. This means a lot for our farmers and ranchers. American producers are back in the game and leading the world again!”
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, which effectively serves as Taiwan’s embassy in the United States, also issued a statement on Friday announcing that the 2025 Republic of China (Taiwan) Agricultural Products Trade Delegation to the United States held a signing ceremony and reception on Capitol Hill on September 17.
“Witnessed by Secretary of Agriculture Chen Junji, Ambassador Yu Dayu, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, and 16 U.S. senators and congressmen, our agricultural delegation signed three letters of intent with U.S. grain producers, planning to purchase over $10 billion worth of U.S. soybeans, corn, wheat, and beef from 2026 to 2029,” the statement said.
The representative office said that sub-delegations for soybeans and corn will then travel to Arkansas, Ohio, and Indiana.
Republican Senator Jefferson Shreve of Indiana posted on September 18 that Taiwan, the eighth-largest market for U.S. agricultural products, had just announced a large purchase of corn and soybeans from Indiana. This is great news for Indiana farmers!
Taiwan’s Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim also previously stated that Taiwanese consumers have always favored American agricultural products, and that the Taiwanese delegation will purchase more agricultural products from the United States to “contribute to a strong and mutually beneficial trade partnership.”
This is part of Taiwan’s efforts to persuade the Trump administration to lower tariffs on Taiwanese imports. The United States currently imposes a 20% tariff on Taiwanese products, higher than the tariffs imposed on allies such as Japan, South Korea, and the European Union.
Since President Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in February of this year, Beijing has completely stopped purchasing American soybeans. China was once the largest customer for American soybeans, but the United States is now China’s second-largest soybean exporter, far behind Brazil. Data from the American Soybean Association shows that China’s tariffs on American soybeans are currently as high as 34%, making American soybeans more expensive than those purchased from Brazil.
Agriculture Secretary Rawlings posted the post about half an hour before President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at 8 a.m. on Friday.
After Trump spoke with Xi Jinping, he stated on his social media platform Truth Social that the United States and China had made progress on important issues such as trade and fentanyl. However, he did not mention whether China would resume purchasing agricultural products such as American soybeans.
In August of this year, Trump called on Xi Jinping on the Truth Social platform, asking China to increase its purchases of American soybeans. “China is worried about soybean shortages. Our great farmers produce the most abundant soybeans,” Trump said in a post
on August 8. “I hope China can quickly double its soybean orders. This is also a way to significantly reduce the trade deficit between the United States and China. Quick service will be provided. Thank you, President Xi.”
