American soybean farmers are a casualty of President Trump’s tariff war with Communist China, and the government shutdown could hinder any immediate help for them.

Mr. Trump is blaming China for the problems soybean farmers face and has promised to bail them out. In a Truth Social post Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Trump says China is refusing to buy American soybeans as a “negotiating” tactic in its trade talks with Washington.

China is the largest export market for American soybeans. It bought more than $12 billion of soybeans last year, but sales have evaporated this year since China slapped a 23 percent retaliatory tariff on the crop and began purchasing the commodity from other countries.

“I’ll be meeting with President Xi, of China, in four weeks, and Soybeans will be a major topic of discussion,” Mr. Trump says. The president also says he will take a portion of tariff revenue to “help our Farmers,” but that aid will not come overnight.

If Congress approves any new bailout for soybean farmers, it likely wouldn’t come until after a partial government funding shutdown that began on Wednesday comes to an end.

Some authorizations for farm programs were funded under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year, but the Department of Agriculture has ceased many operations, including its Emergency Commodity Assistance Program. That program provides direct payments to agricultural producers for crop losses or to make up for lower prices due to overproduction.

Farmers have another reason to be upset. Because China is turning to Argentina over the United States for soybeans, they question the Trump administration’s promise to bail out the Argentinian economy.

Argentina recently suspended its export taxes on soybeans, making them more attractive to overseas buyers.

Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States Treasury is in negotiations for a $20 billion swap line with the Latin American country to prop up President Javier Milei.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, is among those critical of the Argentina bailout, saying American farmers are angry over sending billions of dollars to a country undercutting American soybean prices. 

“Why would USA help bail out Argentina while they take American soybean producers’ biggest market??? We shld use leverage at every turn to help hurting farm economy Family farmers shld be top of mind in negotiations by representatives of USA,” Mr. Grassley posted on X last week.