GRAINS-'Out of the ball game': US soy futures sink after top-buyer China hikes tariffs

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures sank on Friday to their lowest this year, after top importer China said it would impose additional tariffs of 34% on all American goods in retaliation against duties announced by President Donald Trump.

The levies threaten to halt American soybean sales to Chinese buyers at a time when U.S. farmers are grappling with low crop prices and intense competition for export business from Brazil.

"Those kinds of tariffs put us not only out of the ball game but completely out of the ball game," said Don Roose, president of brokerage U.S. Commodities in Iowa.

Most-active soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 were down 30-1/2 cents at $9.81 a bushel by 11:05 a.m. CDT (1605 GMT). The session low was the lowest price since December 20.

Trump on Wednesday unveiled a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from April 5 and higher duties on other countries including 34% on China, escalating the global trade war.

China's latest duties are set to apply from April 10 and come on top of 10% to 15% tariffs Beijing slapped on roughly $21 billion worth of agricultural trade in early March.

As a result, traders are on alert for potential cancellations of previous U.S. soybean sales. China has purchased about 600,000 metric tons of old-crop U.S. soybeans that have not yet been shipped, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, a low number for this time of year.

China at this time of year typically buys more soybeans from top supplier Brazil, following harvests in South America. China usually ramps up American purchases late in the summer when U.S. farmers start to harvest their crops.

"China is a major importer of U.S. soybeans and while their buying tends to shift to Brazil at this time of year, demand going forward could be heavily impacted," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage.

Corn futures rose slightly after Mexico, the biggest export market for U.S. corn, was excluded from Trump's sweeping tariffs this week.

CBOT corn Cv1 was up 1-1/2 cents at $4.59 a bushel, while wheat Wv1 fell 7-3/4 cents to $5.28-1/4 a bushel.