President Trump fired another salvo in the escalating trade war with a Tuesday morning tweet.
Midwestern farmers are finding themselves caught in the crosshairs of this trade war. That's especially true for soybean farmers.
Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that - and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
China is the biggest importer of American soybeans, spending $12.3 billion on the crop in 2017. After President Trump hit China with $34 billion in tariffs, China reciprocated with targeted tariffs on U.S. products and commodities, including soybeans.
Matt Stutzman grows corn, wheat, and soy in Adrian, and is a board member for the Michigan and American Soybean Associations. He joined Stateside to discuss the impact Chinese tariffs are having on the soybean market.
As for his relationships with Chinese buyers, Stutzman said, “There’s nothing that they can do, nothing that we can really do, other than just tell our constituents that we need this to be short or stopped to help our business expand and continue.”
Listen above to hear Stutzman talk about the best and worst case scenarios for the trade war, and how a depressed market would hit older and younger famers particularly hard.
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