Bessent says he’s a soybean farmer: ‘I have felt this pain too’

President Trump’s tariff battle with China has hit soybean farmers particularly hard. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he feels their pain.

“In case you don’t know it, I’m actually a soybean farmer. So, I have felt this pain too,” Bessent said Sunday on ABC News’ This Week. 

A former hedge fund manager, Bessent’s net worth is roughly $600 million, according to Forbes. According to his public financial disclosure filed in January, he owns corn and soybean farmland in North Dakota worth between $5 million and $25 million. The farmland generates between $100,000 and $1 million in rental income for Bessent, via a revenue sharing agreement with those producing the crops.

Bessent’s comments came after he, along with a U.S. delegation that included Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met with Li Chenggang, China’s top trade negotiator, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia this weekend.

The U.S. is typically the top supplier of soybeans to China. Last year, U.S. farmers sold $12.64 billion worth of soybeans to Chinese buyers, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). But that has dropped to zero during Trump's trade war.

Adding insult to injury, Chinese importers last month purchased over 1 million tons of soybeans from Argentina, just days after the U.S. announced a $20 billion financial lifeline for Buenos Aires, according to Reuters.

During the weekend meeting, the two sides “addressed” the concerns of American soybean farmers, Bessent said. The Treasury secretary added that once a trade deal with China is announced, “our soybean farmers will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years.” 

Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday.