As President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in next month, the farming community wonders if he’ll follow through on tariff threats. One expert says for top soybean states like South Dakota, farmers aren’t in a great position to withstand any fallout.
The latest U-S-D-A farm income forecast paints a gloomy picture, with declines in commodity prices dragging things down. And the incoming administration appears poised to enact more tariffs – as it did during Trump’s first term.
Ben Palen runs the consulting firm Ag Management Partners and says this time around; there’s increased political instability on the global front and greater export competition.
Trump regained strong support from agricultural counties in this election, but Palen says his fellow producers need to be prepared for what happens now that the votes have been counted. In Trump’s first term, emergency aid was sent to farmers affected by the initial trade war. But Palen notes there’s a strong push for the new administration to pursue budget cuts, so financial relief could be harder to come by.
Even though many farmers still back Trump, Palen feels this sector doesn’t want to get swept up in trade rhetoric and have to be bailed out.
He argues it’s up to policymakers to find new markets for farmers to sell their crops, as opposed to simply focusing on trade disputes. Other voices, such as the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, welcome the idea of new tariffs, saying the U-S needs to hold firm against countries like China. In the first trade war, U-S agricultural export losses exceeded 27-billion dollars.
