Can China use its large soybean stocks to punish the U.S. in a soybean trade war? Maybe, but it will be very difficult to do so.  Recently, some analysts pointed out that China has 20 MMT of soybean stocks it can use to avoid importing U.S. soybeans in the event this U.S.-China soybean tariff kerfuffle actually sticks. That line of thinking has both merits and flaws. True, China has 20.6 MMT of soybeans sitting around that equate to 18.6 percent of its annual use. Those stocks, however, are of questionable quality, and an 18.6 percent ending stocks/use ratio really isn’t that big. These are unlike China’s wheat stocks ,which account for something like half the world’s ending stocks.  But let’s explore th...

TAGS – Soy & Oilseeds, China, North America