from WILL COOPER in New York, US
NEW YORK, (CAJ News) – THE United States’ trade war with China—once touted by President Donald Trump as a bold strategy to “level the playing field”—has proved to be one of the most self-defeating economic gambits in recent memory.
Intended to weaken China’s manufacturing dominance and revive American industry, Trump’s punitive tariffs instead disrupted global markets, hurt U.S. exporters, and left China’s economy largely unscathed.
The latest attempt by U.S. officials to reframe the narrative is drawing widespread skepticism both at home and abroad.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins took to social media to defend Trump’s failed trade offensive, insisting that Washington was merely protecting American farmers from being “used as pawns” by Beijing.
“America’s soybean farmers are NOT bargaining chips! Full stop,” Rollins wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “China will NOT be allowed to use them as pawns in a trade or national security standoff.”
She added that the Trump administration had “stood up for America’s producers and sovereignty,” portraying the tariffs as a patriotic stand against Chinese manipulation.
Yet that message has found few sympathetic ears. Economists, trade analysts, and even American farmers argue that Trump’s tariffs inflicted more damage on U.S. agriculture than on China.
When Beijing retaliated with counter-tariffs, it simply shifted its supply chains—importing soybeans, corn, and other commodities from Brazil, Argentina, and Russia instead of the United States.
“China didn’t blink,” wrote one user, identified as Dan, reacting to Rollins’ post. “The U.S. imposed tariffs, so China sourced soybeans elsewhere. Then Trump had to beg Beijing to buy American again. But China already had cheaper contracts.”
Others echoed the sentiment, accusing the Trump administration of economic arrogance and short-sightedness. “When you say ‘the world,’ remember it’s just the U.S.,” replied Kishore Cherupalli.
“The rest of us (the world) didn’t want any part of your tariff war.”
Even some conservative voices within the U.S. agricultural sector admit that the policy backfired.
Ella Wilson, a Kansas soybean grower, said the tariffs “hurt farmers more than anyone in Beijing ever could,” adding that “the cost of fertilizers and machinery went up, while export markets vanished overnight.”
The irony, economists note, is that while the Trump administration claimed to be defending rural America, it ended up paying billions in federal subsidies to offset losses caused by its own trade policies.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, soybean exports to China plunged nearly 75 percent in the first year of the tariffs, only partially recovering after Beijing diversified its import base.
Today, China’s agricultural imports are broader and less U.S.-dependent than ever before. Its economy, though slowed by global headwinds, remains stable and increasingly resilient.
Meanwhile, American farmers continue to grapple with reduced market share and rising production costs.
Trump’s tariffs, once marketed as a symbol of economic nationalism, have instead become a cautionary tale of how impulsive policy and political grandstanding can destabilize global trade—and harm the very citizens they were meant to protect.
— CAJ News