AsianFin -- China has not purchased any U.S. soybeans at the start of the new export season for the first time in at least 25 years, signaling a fresh squeeze in its trade relations with Washington.

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that as of Sept. 11, nearly two weeks into the marketing year, China had yet to book a single U.S. cargo. Records dating back to 1999 show this is the first time such a pause has occurred.

The move revives a tactic last seen during the Trump-era trade war, when Beijing withheld US agriculture purchases to gain leverage. China is the world’s largest soybean buyer and last year sourced a fifth of its imports from the US, worth more than $12 billion and representing over half of total US soy export value.

Analysts say the absence of Chinese buying underscores both the fragility of the current trade truce and Beijing’s effort to diversify suppliers, potentially pressuring American farmers just as harvest ramps up.