Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Urges Administration to Act as Trump’s Trade War Devastates Illinois Soybean Farmers
WASHINGTON – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, today sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warning of “the profound damage that President Trump’s trade war is inflicting on Illinois soybean farmers” and calling for urgent action to “minimize the impact of the PRC’s punitive action.”
In his letter, Krishnamoorthi wrote:
“President Trump’s capricious and careless moves on trade have given the People’s Republic of China reason to exercise punishing measures on this key part of the U.S. economy, effectively eliminating the largest export market for U.S. soybean farmers and allowing foreign competitors to supplant U.S. producers. I urge the Administration to take steps to minimize the impact of the PRC’s punitive action. We must work to open new export channels, stabilize farm income, and restore confidence in U.S. agricultural trade.”
Krishnamoorthi emphasized that Illinois—the nation’s leading soybean-producing state—has been hit particularly hard. He noted that Illinois farmers produce 15 percent of all U.S. soybeans, generate $7 billion in annual economic activity, and support tens of thousands of jobs. Yet, as he wrote, “last year, Illinois exported $1.4 billion of soybeans to China. This year, that number has dropped to zero.”
“This abrupt collapse has dealt a devastating blow to Illinois’ farm economy, threatening livelihoods and the stability of our rural communities,” Krishnamoorthi continued. “The President’s uncoordinated tariffs and the PRC’s punishing retaliation are costing U.S. soybean farmers their largest export market. Countries like Brazil and Argentina are stepping in to fill the gap, offering China long-term supply arrangements that threaten to permanently displace U.S. farmers.”
He warned that many producers who “invested heavily in equipment and acreage based on the expectation of stable export demand” now face “surplus inventories, depressed markets, and shrinking margins.” Krishnamoorthi also cited the American Soybean Association’s warning that “the farm economy is suffering while our competitors supplant the United States in the biggest soybean import market in the world.”
The Ranking Member pointed to earlier letters he sent to the Administration in February and March urging contingency plans and a coordinated trade strategy—warnings that have gone unheeded.
“In February, I urged the Department of Agriculture to develop contingency plans to respond to PRC agricultural retaliation—a request that appears to have gone unheeded,” he wrote. “Instead, this Administration is reportedly preparing a one-time bailout for impacted farmers. Historically, this approach leaves farmers with no sustainable solution to ongoing trade challenges and lacks any meaningful oversight. Tariffs can be a valuable tool to protect domestic industry from nonmarket practices and compel adherence to international standards. Yet this Administration appears more interested in wielding them as a blunt tool regardless of the impact on key U.S. sectors.”
To address the crisis, Krishnamoorthi urges the Administration to:
Expand and diversify export markets by strengthening USDA trade-promotion programs and using U.S. diplomacy to open new channels in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East;
Stabilize farm income through targeted direct support for soybean producers, enhanced crop-insurance tools, and low-interest financing to help farmers weather this disruption; and
Reaffirm support for U.S. farmers by ensuring they “will not be sacrificed in broader geopolitical maneuvering” and working toward a swift resolution that restores access to the Chinese market.
A full copy of the letter is available HERE.
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