Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants everyone to know he isn’t just another Washington, D.C., bean counter.
Talking about China’s decision to halt its purchase of American soybeans amid the nations’ ongoing trade war, the secretary had a curious way of describing his personal stake in the agricultural industry.
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“Martha, in case you don’t know it, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I have felt this pain too,” he said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, also adding that President Donald Trump is on the brink of a deal with Beijing that will make farmers happy.
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As the largest importer of American soybeans, China typically purchases an estimated $13 billion of the crop each year. That number has dropped to nearly zero amid global trade tensions.
Bessent, who is worth an estimated $500 million, owns $25 million worth of corn and soybean farmland in North Dakota, so while the trade dispute is certainly impacting his bottom line, it’s not like he’s getting his hands dirty.
Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next Thursday in South Korea during the last leg of an envoy to Asia.
During a separate interview on NBC on Sunday, Bessent told anchor Kristen Welker that the leaders have the “framework” for a deal to get trade between the world’s two largest economies back on track.