Chicago crop futures remained pointed lower on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump followed through on tariff threats against Canada, Mexico, and China, putting agricultural exports at risk.
Tariffs of 25% on most US imports from Canada and Mexico went into effect at midnight, with the White House slapping 20% tariffs on products of China. Canada responded with tariffs on tens of billions of dollars' worth of products imported from the US, while retaliation is also expected to come from Mexico, a major buyer of American corn and wheat, on the weekend.
China – the world’s largest buyer of soybeans - has ramped up existing tariffs on US agricultural exports, including both corn and soybeans, and further announced this morning it has suspended the soybean import licenses of three US companies, including Louis Dreyfus and CHS Inc.
The American tariffs and the retaliatory levies are expected to dent trade in agricultural commodities.
"Retaliatory steps are beginning to emerge from these trading partners, raising fears of an ever-escalating trade war that will send our economy, and the global economy, into a recession, reducing demand for commodities in the process," StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a client note, Reuters reported.
Corn fell for the seventh straight session, hitting their lowest levels of 2025. May fell 4 ¾ cents to $4.51 ½, and December dropped 4 ½ cents to $4.46 ¾.
May soybeans closed below the $10/bu threshold, dropping 12 ½ cents to $9.99. November beans were 15 ¼ cents lower at $10.03 ½.
Wheat was weighed down by trade war worries as well, with the relatively heavier supply situation versus corn adding to the downside. May Chicago fell 11 cents to $5.36 ¾, May Kansas City dropped 13 ½ cents to $5.48 ½, and May Minneapolis was down 11 ¼ cents to $5.80.
