Soybeans account for about 2.5% of China's total imports and almost 10% of their imports from the US. Even though, on the whole, China exports a lot to the US

Soybeans account for about 2.5% of China's total imports and almost 10% of their imports from the US. Even though, on the whole, China exports a lot to the US and imports little (about 4 to 1 I think), China is a big food importer and the US is a big food exporter. When the US starts hitting Chinese companies with tariffs or through license restrictions, China doesn't have much space to retaliate because they have already closed off as much of their market as they can and only really import food in large quantities for consumption inside the country. They can't restrict imports of integrated circuits because we are doing that to them on our end and that basically leaves advanced medical technology and petroleum as strong retaliatory targets for China which China desperately wants. Of course, the consumer ultimately pays for tariffs, or scarcity in this case, so we can expect the costs of food to rise in China. Couple this with the slowing economy and the recent devaluing of Chinese currency it could be a squeeze on the Chinese middle class.