Trump Treasury Sec. Bessent says he’s a soybean farmer

Treasury secretary Scott Besant He said Sunday that he, too, “felt hurt” by China Refuse to purchase products grown in the United States soybean During a business conflict with the president Donald Trump Because “I’m actually a soybean farmer.”

Besant’s comment came during an interview with ABC News “This Week” He said that trade negotiations with China in the past two days have led to a “large framework” that he believes will be eased American soybeans Farmers’ fears of boycott

Trump is scheduled to meet later this week with the Chinese president Xi Jinping In South Korea.

Besant, ex Hedge fund CEO Whose net worth is estimated at Forbes About $600 million Host Martha Raddatz was asked about the soybean boycott on “This Week,” who noted that “American farmers have really suffered.”

In 2023 and 2024, China purchased more than half of the soybeans grown in the United States, representing approximately $12.8 billion in 2024.

But after Trump sparked a trade war with Beijing earlier this year, China stopped buying soybeans.

“Do you see a real light at the end of the tunnel there, are they allowing soybeans again?” – Raditz asked.

“Martha, in case you didn’t know, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I felt that pain too,” Besant replied.

Besant Government financial disclosure It shows that he owns soybean and corn farmland in North Dakota valued at between $5 million and $25 million.

In that disclosure, Besant said the farmland generates him between $100,000 and $1 million in rental income annually.

“I think we’ve addressed farmers’ concerns, and I’m not going to get ahead of the president, but I think when the deal with China is announced, our soybean farmers will feel good about what happens this season and the seasons to come for several years,” the Treasury secretary told Raddatz on Sunday.