Whoever claimed trade wars are easy to win clearly wasn’t an American farmer. Witness the enormous collateral damage America’s soybean producers are suffering amid President Trump’s trade war with China.

Exports of American soybeans to China have collapsed this year, with no new orders logged in recent months ahead of the prime autumn export season. Before Mr. Trump’s first round of tariffs on China in 2018, China was the largest export market for American soy. It typically bought about 30% of total U.S. soybean production and some 60% of American soybean exports. Those exports were worth $12.8 billion annually, the soybean farmers’ trade association reports.

RELATED: Trump’s trade battle with China puts US soybean farmers in peril

Beijing has made a concerted effort to diversify its supply of soybeans and related products since the first Trump Administration. Brazil and, more recently, Argentina have been the big winners.

Beijing also has imposed a 23% retaliatory tariff on American soybeans in response to Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports this year. This adds some $2 per bushel to the cost of American soybeans sold in China, far outweighing an American production price advantage of 80 to 90 cents a bushel, Reuters reports. As a result, American farmers lose out on large advance orders since China buys from the U.S. only to fill gaps in South American and other production.

At least American soy farmers are in good company as China targets a range of American agricultural products for retaliation. Cattle ranchers are seeing Chinese demand for American beef dwindle as China shifts its consumption to imports from Australia.

The protectionists’ solution is to throw more subsidies at American farmers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Mr. Trump last month floated plans to use a portion of tariff revenue to write checks to farmers.

Mr. Trump said the handouts to farmers might continue “until the tariffs kick in to their benefit,” in which case Treasury will be making payouts for a long time. And talk about blowing a hole in protectionists’ argument that tariffs are free money for the government that can be used for other purposes.

Don’t mistake any of this for a Chinese victory per se. Beijing is forcing Chinese consumers — who have much lower per-capita incomes than Americans — to pay more for soy products than they otherwise would. Most recent data point to a marked deterioration as the Trump tariffs weigh on an economy already struggling with a property-market deflation and a crushing debt burden.

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But the plight of America’s farmers is a reminder that the destruction of a trade war is mutually assured, and not inflicted solely by one side on the other as Mr. Trump’s trade warriors so often claim. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said America holds all the cards in Mr. Trump’s tariff game because the rest of the world needs to sell us stuff. Tell that to America’s farmers.

— The Wall Street Journal

For the past 50 years, St. Paul’s Park Square Theatre has been a hub for Twin Cities performers to perfect their craft. After overcoming a period of financial hardships and near closure, Park Square is moving towards a brighter future.

After an abrupt cancellation of all but one show in its 2023 season, Park Square Theatre has returned to a four-show season of unique American contemporary plays and performances. This season is led in part by Stephen DiMenna, the theater’s executive artistic director.

“For our audiences, I want to bring them challenging new American plays that they’re not going to see at any other theater in town. So that they feel like ‘I don’t have to go to New York to see a high-quality production of a new play. I can see it right here, in downtown St. Paul,’ ” DiMenna said.

DiMenna joined Park Square in October 2023, when the theater had a staff of two and was struggling to remain afloat. After a reconfiguration of leadership and a season spent looking for financial backers, the theater returned the following year.

After 25 years living in New York City, working as a freelance director and teaching directing courses at New York University, DiMenna moved to Minnesota in 2019.

“What’s so wonderful about working in the Twin Cities is that it’s a community and all the actors know each other,” DiMenna said. “It’s much more of a family here.”

Park Square opened in 1975 in the 70-seat Park Square Court building. Today, it can seat 550 in the Historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul. Its current production, “It’s Only a Play,” runs through Oct. 19.

“I was proud of the work we did when we were tiny, and I was proud of the work that was happening by the time I left, when we were not so tiny,” said former artistic director Richard Cook.

As Park Square’s former and longest-running artistic director, Cook said his responsibilities in those first years included thawing radiator pipes with a propane torch. Cook worked at the theater for 43 years, in different capacities, before retiring in 2018.

“There was a special joy in finding those moments, whether it’s a comedy with a good house laugh, or a more serious play with an ‘Aha!’ moment,” Cook said. “It’s those artists and that audience being in the same place in that moment. There’s that sense of communal experience.”

Twin Cities jazz vocalist and performer Thomasina Petrus has worked with Park Square for years, starring in their production of “Lady Day” as legendary vocalist Billie Holiday in 2008. She later returned to this role ten years later at the Jungle Theater.

“I hope the public starts to realize just how important theater is,” Petrus said. “Theater can encompass so many layers of artistry: dance, music, song, storytelling, set design. All of it is so thoughtful.”

Petrus worked previously with DiMenna in her high school career, when he helped direct the North Community High School production of “Romeo and Juliet” and “West Side Story,” where she played Maria.

“Part of what pleases me is that it seems a good deal of what the theater is doing right now, picks up on some of the points of the legacy that I helped build,” Cook said.

Looking toward the future, DiMeena hopes to expand the theater’s season to six shows, as well as begin high school theater programs in the St. Paul community.

“I think we still have room to grow,” DiMenna said.

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AMY GREGG: Hosts a meet-and-greet introducing her book “Fowl Play.” Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.

CARSON FAUST: A two-spirit and enrolled member of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of North Carolina who lives in Minneapolis launches his novel “If the Dead Belong Here” in conversation with Mona Susan Power. 7 p.m. Monday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

WALLY LAMB: Bestselling author whose books include “She Came Undone” and “I Know This Much is True” discusses his work in Friends of the Hennepin County Library’s Pen Pals series. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday, Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Main St. For ticket information, go to supporthclib.org.

GREIL MARCUS: Presents “Mystery Train” in conversation with Michaelangelo Matos. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

MIDSTREAM READING SERIES: With Emily August, Kathryn Kysar, Debra J Stone and Davi Gray. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Unity Church-Unitarian, 732 Holly Ave., St. Paul.

STEM BOOK FESTIVAL: Bakken Museum, 3537 Zenith Ave. S., Minneapolis, is celebrating 50 years of blending science, technology and the humanities to educate and inspire Minnesotans with a weekend of events that reflect its history and future. Highlights are a Friday gala at Historic Grain Belt Brewery, 1220 Marshall St. N.E., Mpls., and a free 50th anniversary bash Saturday when guests can explore the museum and take in interactive exhibits, family-friendly science activities and a celebration of the museum’s mission. The first Minnesota STEM book festival will be Oct. 12 in a science-meets-literature event for all ages. The free program from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum includes author readings, workshops and a pop-up book market that highlights STEM themes. For more information, go to thebakken.org/fifty.

JOE SIPLE: Native of Rochester, Minn., discusses “The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride,” his internationally bestselling novel about a 100-year-old former baseball player who forms an unlikely friendship with a spirited 10-year-old boy. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

DEBRA J STONE: Launches “The House on Rondo,” her memoir about the destruction of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood to make way for the Interstate 94 freeway, in conversation with Melina Mangal. 1 p.m. Saturday, Black Garnet Books, 1319 W. University Ave., St. Paul.

(Courtesy of Down & Out Books)

RENEE VALOIS: Minnesota author of “Collecting Spirits: Life with Ghosts, Guardians & Guides” presents true ghost stories — and the chance to share yours — when she discusses how to deal with troublesome spirits and other spooky topics. Noon-6 p.m. Friday; presentation 6 p.m. Free. Moonstone Books, 3304 E. Lake St., Mpls.

What else is going on

Don’t forget Opus & Olives, Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s fundraiser gala Oct. 12 at St. Paul River Centre, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. Guest readers are Rick Atkinson (“The Fate of the Day”), Jade Chang (“What a Time to Be Alive”), Jason Mott (National Book Award for “Hell of a Book”) and Nita Prose (“The Maid’s Secret”). For ticket information, go to thefriends.org/opus.

Rain Taxi Review, the Minneapolis-based literary publication, hosts a 30th anniversary exhibit and free opening night reception Tuesday at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Mpls. The exhibit features publications, pictures and artifacts culled from three decades, including select covers from 119 print issues, rare chapbooks, broadsides and side projects Rain Taxi has published, as well as posters, pictures and other images tracking the history of the publication’s local events, including 25 years of hosting the Twin Cities Book Festival. For information and registration for the reception, go to raintaxi.com/rain-taxi-30th-anniversary-exhibit-and-opening.

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National Banned Books Week begins Sunday and there couldn’t be a more important event as our country grapples with the constitutionally protected right of free speech, which includes the right to read. Presented by the American Library Association and the writers organization PEN America, this year’s motto is “Censorship is So 1984: Read for Your Rights.”

(Courtesy image)

The annual celebration of the right to choose began in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in book challenges in libraries, schools and bookstores.

PEN reports its data shows efforts to remove books from school libraries and curricula often target books by and about LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, and themes of race and social justice. ALA documented 821 attempts to censor library books and other materials in 2024, across all library types, a decrease from 2023 when a record 1,247 attempts were reported.

Here are PEN’s most banned books of the 2023-24 school year:

“Nineteen Minutes,” Jodi Picoult.

“Looking for Alaska,” John Green.

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Stephen Chbosky.

“Sold,” Patricia McCormick.

“Thirteen Reasons Why,” Jay Asher.

“Crank,” “Tricks” and “Identical,” Ellen Hopkins.

“The Kite Runner,” Khaled Hosseini.

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood.

“Water for Elephants,” Sara Gruen.

The ALA list includes some of the same titles as well as:

“All Boys Aren’t Blue,” George M. Johnson.

“Gender Queer,” Maia Kobabe.

“The Bluest Eye,” Toni Morrison.

“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” Jesse Andrews.

“Flamer,” Mike Curato.

Minnesota-based Little Free Library is participating by inviting people to share a banned book, or one you hope is never banned, by donating a copy to a Little Free Library. The nonprofit is also offering an interactive map revealing book ban hotspots and nearby Little Free Library locations. To learn more, go to littlefreelibrary.org/about/book-bans/banned-books-week. And don’t forget to look for Book Ban-related exhibits and events at your local libraries and bookstores.

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