US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in about four weeks. The talks are expected to focus on soybeans, he said. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump shed light on the struggles faced by American soybean farmers. He said China has halted purchases of US soybeans “for negotiating reasons only,” hurting farmers in the process.  Trump said that his administration has collected substantial revenue from tariffs imposed on Chinese goods and plans to use some of those funds to support the agricultural sector.

Trump comes down heavily on Biden’s trade policies 

Trump took a jab at Former US President Joe Biden accusing him of failing to enforce a trade agreement that obligated China to buy billions of dollars’ worth of US farm products, including soybeans. “Sleepy Joe Biden didn’t enforce our Agreement with China,” Trump wrote, suggesting that this neglect has contributed to the current difficulties faced by farmers.

Looking forward to the meeting with Xi Jinping, Trump assured farmers that soybeans and other crops will be “a major topic of discussion.” He expressed confidence that the talks would lead to a positive outcome, saying, “It’s all going to work out very well.”

Trump’s sulking remarks amid tariff tensions

Last month, Trump triggered a row after he claimed that the US lost India and Russia to “deepest, darkest China” amid tensions with the three nations over tariffs and the Ukraine war. The remarks come in the backdrop of the SCO Summit in China’s Tianjin, where Indian PM Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and and Chinese President Xi Jinping held key talks. 

“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together! President Donald J. Trump,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. Even more interesting was that the US president paired his remarks on social media with an undated picture of PM Modi, Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping walking side by side.

The statement followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meetings with both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO summit, the largest gathering in the bloc’s history. The summit, hosted by China, brought together 10 member states and 20 invited leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In his opening address, Xi Jinping urged the SCO to “safeguard regional peace and stability” and to “unite the strength of the Global South.”

Relations between New Delhi and Washington have worsened after Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, along with an additional 25 per cent duty on India’s imports of Russian crude oil.