US state Iowa most vulnerable to Chinese soybean tariff: Report

A spoon of soybeans. [Photo/IC]

CHICAGO - Iowa's economy is the most vulnerable to Chinese soybean tariff in the United States, according to a newly issued local report.

Iowa, a midwestern US state, sits between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, exported nearly $2 billion in soybeans to China in 2016, which made up about 4 percent of the state's economy, according to Des Moines Register citing a study by Moody's. The percentage is the largest of any state in the United States.

Missouri's exposure to soybean tariffs by China ranked second nationally, with soybean export to China contributing about 1.1 percent to the state's economy, according to the report.

Importing about $14 billion of US soybeans, China remained the crop's largest buyer in 2016. But a proposed 25 percent tariff on the commodity, which came in response to President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Chinese products, threatened to cut into Iowan farmers' already dwindling profit.

Iowa's farm income had fallen about 74 percent in the last 5 years to $2.5 billion in 2016, according to the report.