A moral case for China to stop buying American soybeans permanently

By Alex Lo

Soybean imports are not usually the kind of topics that make headline news. But ever since they have become another bone of contention in the fierce trade war between China and the United States, people are suddenly paying attention.

The numbers are shocking. From being the top soybean supplier, US supplies have suddenly dropped to practically zero as China switches sourcing to Argentina and Brazil.

But there is a moral aspect to the US domestic story. It’s one about how seasonal workers, mostly from Mexico, who go to work illegally at low wages in poor conditions, are often put under financial and even physical threats. Others come legally but are treated even worse, like slaves through legal loopholes. Sometimes, outright human trafficking and cartels are involved.

It’s about how big agricultural businesses crowd out traditional small local family farms while exploiting the latter’s all-American image for PR to induce big-time public subsidies through lobbying. Add to the latest crackdown on illegal or undocumented foreign workers by brutal federal agents, and you have created an unbearable labour system that’s primitive and extreme in its labour exploitation.

There is the myth that ordinary Americans don’t want to do farm work and so, farm bosses have to use imported labour. In reality, big businesses and their political allies want it that way rather than paying fair wages with mandated benefits.

Many now claim the trade war is destroying their livelihood, but they voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump 2.0 who did exactly what he said he would do. Buyer’s remorse? Hardly. If you want a two-word explanation, try moral hazard.

Alex Lo has been a Post columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China. A journalist for 25 years, he has worked for various publications in Hong Kong and Toronto as a news reporter and editor. He has also lectured in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.