Hundreds of thousands of U.S. soybean farmers are rethinking strategy because of a growing fear that a potential trade war with China would cripple the industry. The Trump administration announced $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods for “unfair trade practices” involving intellectual property and American technology, and China responded with its own trade threat – $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods, including soybeans. Soybean farmers say they are already feeling the pinch. The back-and-forth has caused significant price drops for soybeans this year, just months ahead of harvest season. China imported 60 percent of U.S. soybeans exports in 2017, according to the American Soybean Association (ASA). The ASA, which represents 300,000 soybean farmers, noted a $6 billion price drop for the 2018 crop, which will be harvested later this year.