The American Soybean Association (ASA) and the Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers’ Association (TVOA) signed a letter of intent on October 3, for the purchase of 1.6 to 1.8 million metric tons (58.8 to 66.1 million bushels) of U.S. soybeans between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 1999. TVOA Chairman Ling-Yi Wang and ASA Executive Committee member Dwain Ford, a soybean producer from Kinmundy, Illinois, signed the letter initiated by TVOA as part of an Agricultural Goodwill Mission to the United States. "Taiwan is buying from the United States because we can reliably provide them with both the quality and the quantity of soybeans they need," Ford said. "We are very pleased to strengthen the relationship between soybean producers and our customers in Taiwan because they have been an extremely good trading partner for U.S. farmers." Although the final terms, quantities, price, and conditions for the purchase of the soybeans will be negotiated privately between the end users and private suppliers, the estimated value of this quantity is approximately $370 million.

"ASA is always working to develop new customers for U.S. soybean producers, but we also have to take care of our existing customers, and Taiwan has been a very good customer," according to Ford. ASA staff and consultants located in the United States and in 15 overseas offices promote U.S. soybean exports in more than 80 countries. ASA’s activities to expand international markets for U.S. soybeans and products are made possible by producer checkoff dollars invested by the United Soybean Board (USB) and various State Soybean Councils, as well as by cost-share funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Doug Magnus, Chairman of USB’s International Marketing Committee and a soybean producer from Slayton, Minnesota, met with TVOA representatives and observed the signing of the letter.

The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan sent 18 procurement missions to the United States between 1978 and 1993. These missions resulted in the purchase of U.S. agricultural products worth $11.6 billion, which was extremely helpful to the mutual beneficial trade relations between the two countries and job opportunities in the United States. Since 1995, the ROC has been the fifth largest overseas market for U.S. agricultural products in general, including being the fourth largest market for U.S. soybeans and the largest consumer of U.S. agricultural products worldwide in terms of per capita consumption.

The Agricultural Goodwill Mission from Taiwan also visited Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Washington, D.C. in order to demonstrate the ROC’s continuing goodwill and willingness for purchasing U.S. soybeans.