FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2019
Contact: Hannah Packman, 202.554.1600
[email protected]
WASHINGTON– In retaliation against the United States’ most recent escalation in an ongoing trade war, China today announced that it will increase tariffs on $75 billion worth of American goods, including a number of agricultural products. Starting on September 1, the country plans raise tariffs on American soybeans from 25 percent to 30 percent and on pork from 50 percent to 60 percent. On December 1, they will increase tariffs on corn, sorghum and wheat from 25 percent to 35 percent.
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement in response to the news:
“It’s no surprise that China is slapping even more tariffs on American products. Every time Trump escalates his trade war, China calls his bluff – and why would we expect any differently this time around? And it’s no surprise that farmers are again the target. In just the past three years, U.S. soybean exports to China have fallen nearly 80 percent, and once these tariffs kick in, things are likely to get worse.
“Things have been difficult for farmers long before this trade war rolled around. Farmers are making half of what they were in 2013, and they’ve taken on record levels of debt just to keep their doors open. Chronic overproduction continues to push commodity prices down, and extreme weather events and higher temperatures caused by climate change have made the job of growing food that much more challenging. But instead of looking to solve existing problems in our agricultural sector, this administration has just created new ones. Between burning bridges with all of our biggest trading partners and undermining our domestic biofuels industry, President Trump is making things worse, not better.”
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To download an audio file of Roger Johnson’s quote, visit our website at nfu.org/audio.
About NFU
National Farmers Union advocates on behalf of nearly 200,000 American farm families and their communities. We envision a world in which farm families and their communities are respected, valued, and enjoy economic prosperity and social justice.
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You voted for the guy.
In terms a farmer can understand “ you reap what you sow”
Remember the pain when its time to vote again in 2020
Would be great if we could share these on social media.
Americas farmers needs another profitable crop to grow. America also needs to put it’s coal miners and coal power plants producing our electricity. You have the land and America has the coal, and America needs a lot of electricity produced 24/7. Not the renewable stuff.
https://youtu.be/RQRQ7S92_lo
We need President Trump to push all coal fired power plants back into operation and coal miners back to work. CO2 emissions will be lower at a coal fired power plant than at a natural gas power plant.
The agricultural community will benefit and the coal mining communities will benefit. hundreds of thousands of acres of this vegetable will have to be grown and harvested yearly, so the power plants can operate with near zero CO2 emissions.
It’s a Win-Win for all.