The soybean trade with China was worth about $14 billion last year to Iowa and U.S. soybean producers last year. The Asian nation is the world’s largest importer, and is America’s biggest buyer of the oilseed as about a third of our crop ends up there. Its purchases have climbed to a record as expansion in large-scale livestock farming and a shortage of protein-rich feed grains boost soymeal consumption. U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad last month warned China in a Bloomberg interview against retaliatory measures aimed at imports of the oilseed, and said any efforts to curb the trade would harm the Asian nation’s regular citizens more than American growers. Part of what's interesting also is China is also adding a tariff to heat, corn, cotton, sorghum, tobacco and beef which is getting much less talk. China’s imports of U.S. corn, wheat and tobacco totaled about $740 million in 2017, according to official customs data.