section_path: Effects/United States/US farmer impact
section_name: US farmer impact
paragraph_text: US farmer impact
  
  American farmers faced significant challenges due to China's retaliatory trade actions. From 2010 to 2016, China was the largest market for U.S. agricultural products, with exports peaking at $25.5 billion in 2015. Although U.S. agricultural exports to China totaled $19.4 billion in 2017, making it the second-largest market behind Canada, the trade war drastically reduced these figures. By 2018, exports had plummeted to $9.1 billion. A partial recovery followed in 2019, with exports reaching $13.8 billion; however, by then, China had fallen to the fourth-largest market for U.S. agricultural goods, trailing Canada, Mexico, and Japan, respectively.
  
  Soybean exports accounted for the largest annualized losses with China, totaling $9.4 billion. Sorghum followed in second, losing $854 million, and pork third, losing $646 million. Relative to exports in 2017 as a – change, by 2018, the most impacted agricultural commodities by total losses were soybeans, wheat, corn, coarse grains, hides and skins, fresh fruit, pork, dairy products, processed fruit, and cotton.
  
  The United States is the world's second-largest producer of soybeans, behind Brazil. China is the world's largest soybean importer, importing about 60% of the global market in 2024. Between 2017 and 2018, China's share of U.S. soybean exports dropped from 62% to 18%. It recovered to 55% by 2020. Soybean farmers were some of the most impacted by Chinese tariffs. Soybean farmers lost an estimated $24 billion in exports and accounted for the predominant number of increasing farm bankruptcies in 2018. By 2019, soybean farmers had planted 15% less acreage than in 2018. Trade represents 50% of soybean farmers income, as compared to the national average of 20%.
  
  Other massive agricultural disruptions included products like cranberries, hay, and ethanol. Cranberry exports to China rose nearly 77% from 2007 to 2016 when a barrel of fruit would sell for $58.60. By 2018, the price had fallen 62% to only $22.30 per barrel. Hay exports to China dropped 36%, resulting in an estimated $300 million in the first two years compared to the anticipated $400 million. Ethanol, a corn-based biofuel, had emerged as an important agricultural byproduct commodity to China, exporting for a total of $300 million in 2017. By 2018, total exports dropped 86%.
  
  Regionally, the Midwest was most impacted by the agricultural tariffs by China. For example, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas represented the largest share of annualized losses in agriculture revenue in 2018. Losing $1.46 billion, $1.41 billion, and $955 million, respectively, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas accounted for 11%, 11%, and 7% of all total agricultural losses in 2018.
  
  Agricultural tariffs against the U.S. by China began in April 2018 when retaliatory tariffs between 15% and 25% on U.S. imports included 94 different lines on U.S. agricultural goods. These first tariffs predominantly focused on pork, fruit, and tree nuts. Then, in July 2018, China expanded agricultural tariffs of 25% to a total of 697 different lines. On September 1, 2019, Chinese agricultural tariffs had increased to 1053 different lines. Although most agricultural tariffs on U.S. goods by China began at 25%, some goods like pork, fruits and nuts, grains, sugar, and soybeans reached tariffs as high as 80% to 100%.
  
  The Trump administration responded to decreasing agricultural exports through a series of acts and bailouts. Between 2018 and 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture 's Farm Service Agency administered and oversaw the distribution of $23 billion in the form of direct payments to farmers for losses caused by international trade disputes through the Market Facilitation Program. Specifically, in 2019 the USDA's Market Facilitation Program paid $14.4 billion across 644,000 farming operations. The average payment per operation was $22,312 and focused on three types of eligible commodities: (1) non-specialty crops (such as corn and soybeans); (2) specialty crops (such as fruits and nuts); (3) dairy and pork products. Of the $14.4 billion in farmer assistance in 2019, 90% went to farmers of non-specialty crops, totaling $12.9 billion.
  
  Another form of agricultural assistance was the Food Purchase and Distribution Program by the United States Department of Agriculture. Specifically designed to offset already produced agricultural commodities in the form of surplus, USDA purchased roughly $2.3 billion in U.S. agriculture impacted by trade tariffs. The most significant commodities purchased were pork, dairy, and apples.
  
  Finally, the third program introduced by USDA was the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program. Designed to assist American agricultural exporters in identifying and accessing new markets to mitigate the impacts of agricultural tariffs by China, the program accepted applications beginning in November 2018 to access the $200 million federal budget and promote their products abroad.
  
  For soybean farmers impacted by the trade tariffs with China, these agricultural mitigation programs helped lessen losses to U.S. soybean farmers. For example, soybean farmers began exporting to new markets in 2018 to markets like Mexico, Egypt, and the European Union. These new markets accounted for $4.7 billion, partially offsetting the $9.4 billion loss with China in 2018.
  
  In 2020, the U.S. and China agreed on new agricultural tariffs through the Phase One Agreement which created a new trade agreement that required structural reforms and changes to China's economic and trade regime. The agreement included a commitment by China to make substantial purchases of U.S. goods and services, of which agricultural products were included in the Agriculture Chapter. The first part of the agreement included a commitment by China to purchase and import an average of at least $40 billion U.S. agricultural products across two years between 2020 and 2022 totaling $80 billion. Additionally, specific agricultural products that had been the recipient of tariffs by China were addressed. Most notable were U.S. exports of beef, pork, poultry, processed meat, dairy, rice, seafood, fruits, and feed products. However, between 2020 and 2022, only 73% of the agreed-upon $40 billion was spent on U.S. agricultural products by China. In 2020, U.S. exports to China totaled $26.4 billion, and in 2021 totaled $32.7 billion. This amounted to a total two-year export value by the U.S. to China of $59.5 billion. Essential commodities like soybeans grew from a total export value of $15.1 billion in 2020, to $17.9 billion by the end of 2022.