American farmers are increasingly impacted by tariffs caused by ongoing trade disputes with Canada, Mexico and China.
The impact is so big the US Department of Agriculture is now handing out $4.7 billion in farm aid to offset losses from retaliatory tariffs. And it’s not just farmers getting hurt.
In America’s heartland, retaliatory tariffs threaten some $1 billion in exports from Iowa, $660 million of that with Canada alone. And while hog and soybean farmers are impacted, so are steel, pesticide and other manufacturers. The story’s the same across the US.
That’s why Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue on Friday urged negotiators to reach a deal that includes all three NAFTA signatories.
“NAFTA’s many strengths rest on the fact that it ties together three economically vibrant nations, drawing upon each of our strengths to boost the competitiveness of the whole,” Donohue said in the release. “If you break off one member of this agreement, you break it all, and that would be bad news for US businesses, for American jobs, and for economic growth.”
Clearly, trade disputes hurt everyone –farmers, employers, workers and consumers. And just as clearly, Canada, Mexico and the US economies are deeply integrated.
Economic and political pressure will eventually resolve the Canadian current disagreement.
