GRAINS-Soybeans set for biggest weekly loss in a month on tariffs worry

By Naveen Thukral

SINGAPORE, April 4 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures lost more ground on Friday, with the market heading for its biggest weekly drop in over a month amid fears of potential retaliation by top importer China against U.S. tariffs.

Corn and wheat futures edged higher.

"We remain of the idea that, given the US role as exporter of grains, the potential for retaliatory tariffs remains the main risk to prices and we believe the related uncertainty will weigh on the complex," according to a report from BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 fell 0.2% to $10.09-3/4 a bushel as of 0207 GMT. Corn Cv1 rose 0.2% to $4.58-1/4 a bushel and wheat Wv1 added 0.1% to $5.36-3/4 a bushel.

For the week, soybeans are down 1.3%, the most since late February, corn has added 1.1% and wheat has risen 1.6%.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 10% baseline tariff on most imports to the U.S., with higher duties on dozens of trading partners, including China and the European Union.

Economists said Trump's levies could prove relatively advantageous for Brazil, which is the world's biggest soybean exporter and competes with the U.S. for soy sales to China.

The plan sent U.S. equities and oil prices falling as investors feared a global recession, while grain traders saw scope for disruption to U.S. agricultural exports, particularly soybean shipments to China.

However, some traders were relieved that Mexico was excluded from Trump's sweeping new tariffs, as it is the biggest export market for U.S. corn. They also took comfort that Trump did not set a higher baseline tariff level.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean and soyoil futures contracts on Thursday and net buyers of corn, wheat and soymeal futures, traders said. COMFUND/CBT