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The warning flashed on Forbes’ show “What’s Moving Your Money” should wake every patriot who still believes in fair trade: China is not merely competing with American farmers — it is deliberately weaponizing agriculture to cause instant political pain in Washington. Spencer Hakimian lays out how Beijing’s maneuvers hit the nation’s heartland, and that is no accident; it’s a calculated squeeze designed to split the country from the inside.
Beijing has spent years reducing its dependence on U.S. farm imports and rewiring global supply chains so it can shrug off American pressure while still inflicting damage on our producers. That pivot — buying from Brazil, Argentina and others while boosting domestic output — gives China the freedom to slap tariffs or simply stop buying when it suits its geopolitical aims. American leaders are waking up to the fact that food security and trade leverage are part of Beijing’s long game.
Chinese officials know exactly which sectors make politicians nervous, and agriculture sits near the top of that list because farmers vote and farm stress translates into swift political backlash. By holding back purchases of soybeans, pork and other staples, Beijing can force price collapses on U.S. farms and then watch Washington scramble to respond. This is not commerce — it is coercion dressed up as trade.
The consequences are painfully real for family farms already squeezed by rising input costs and thin margins: lost export markets mean falling prices, deeper debt, and a heavier reliance on government bailouts that never address the root problem. Far from being ideological opponents of free enterprise, farmers want reliable markets and a government that defends their access to them — not empty gestures while supply-chain adversaries consolidate power. Washington’s reflexive subsidies are a temporary bandage, not a strategy.
This isn’t an isolated tactic. Beijing has proven it’s comfortable weaponizing other critical supply chains, including restricting exports of rare earths and other inputs essential to American industry and defense. If China will leverage minerals and technology supplies, it will certainly use food when it delivers the political leverage it wants. The pattern is unmistakable: economic tools as instruments of statecraft.
Conservatives who love country and free markets should be clear-eyed: defending American agriculture is both economic commonsense and national security. Washington must stop pretending that passive appeals to fair play will deter Beijing; we need market access strategies, reciprocal trade measures, and accelerated efforts to rebuild domestic supply chains and alternative export markets. Strategic stockpiles, targeted tariffs against coercive practices, and trade diplomacy that prioritizes our farmers would be a good start.
If we allow Beijing to treat our farmers as bargaining chips, we accept a future where American prosperity and independence are negotiable. Hardworking Americans deserve a government that fights for them — not one that treats rural communities as collateral damage in geopolitical brinksmanship. It’s time for bold, practical action to reclaim our markets and protect the backbone of this country.
