Sounds like Trumpâs trade war is triggering a revolt among farmers who previously supported him. Listen to what some some big names in agriculture had to say today (see bolded text below). And they werenât just randomly tweeting this stuff, they were calling out Trumpâs Secretary of Agriculture to his face in front of a gathering of influential farmers.
BLOOMBERG
By Mike Dorning and Erik Wasson
August 7, 2019, 11:26 AM PDT
Farmersâ discontent over President Donald Trumpâs escalating trade war with China erupted into the open Wednesday as his agriculture secretary was confronted at a fair in rural Minnesota.
Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, drew applause as he leveled criticism of the administrationâs trade policy at a forum with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in front of thousands of farmers gathered in a metal barn for a panel discussion.
American farmers took a fresh financial hit from Trumpâs trade war over the weekend as China announced a halt to all U.S. agricultural imports after the president threatened Beijing with another tariff increase.
Wertish criticized Trumpâs âgo-it-alone approachâ and the trade disputeâs âdevastating damage not only to rural communities.â He expressed fears Trumpâs $28 billion in trade aid will undermine public support for federal farm subsidies, saying the assistance is already being pilloried âas a welfare program, as bailouts.â
Others joined in. Brian Thalmann, president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, complained about Trump statements that farmers are doing âgreat again.â "We are not starting to do great again,â he said. âWe are starting to go down very quickly.â
Joel Schreurs of the American Soybean Association warned American producers are in danger of long-term losses in market share in China, the worldâs largest importer of soybeans.
Perdue sought to soothe the crowd as he defended the presidentâs policies. âObviously this is a popular opinion. A lot of applause,â he joked after the audience reacted to Democratic Representative Angie Craig saying aid is not a substitute for a strategy on trade. "There is a lot of stress out there.â
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The trade war has hit farmers already beset by years of low commodity prices due to global overproduction and this year a string of bad weather. U.S. farm income dropped 16% last year to $63 billion, about half the level it was as recently as 2013.
U.S. Agricultural exports to China dropped by more than half in 2018 after the trade war began, falling from $19.5 billion in 2017 to $9.2 billion in 2018.
Major farm groups sounded an alarm earlier this week after China announced it was halting U.S. agriculture imports.
Zippy Duvall, president of the the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nationâs largest and most influential general farm organization, on Monday called the import cut-off âa body blow to thousands of farmers and ranchers who are already struggling to get by.â
Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, the nationâs second-largest general farm group, said Trumpâs âstrategy of constant escalation and antagonismâ has âjust made things worse.â
Trumpâs overwhelming support in rural America was crucial to his narrow 2016 election victory and maintaining farmerâs backing is critical to his re-election bid.