Hard To Beat A Foe That Doesn't Give A Shit

I claim no deep knowledge of internal Chinese politics, but I think it's fair to guess that their political leaders are somewhat more immune from fluctuations in public opinion and the fortunes of their populace than ours are. Somewhat. Also they can probably figure out how to get soy from elsewhere. Any one good might not matter that much for our economy overall, but it's pretty easy to inflict pain on certain geographic populations/areas.

But this year, the Chinese have all but stopped buying. The largest market for one of America’s largest exports has shut its doors. The Chinese government imposed a tariff on American soybeans in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese goods. The latest federal data, through mid-October, shows American soybean sales to China have declined by 94 percent from last year’s harvest.

One can have troubles with our general free trade regime, and especially the elite discourse and unwavering Friedmanesque faith in globollocks, and also get that President Deals isn't going to "win" any trade wars.