US farmers ‘prepare for the worst’ in new Trump trade war

Aaron in Aaron’s father’s heart feels tranquil on the second term of the second term of the second term of the President Donald Trump. However, all that could change in a few weeks.

Lehman restrains itself for the impact of a possible trade war in Washington, which says it can keep the US corn belt low and irritated America’s position with its neighbors.

“The villagers understand that trading relations are climbing the ladder, where you work hard to build them, but it goes down on the elevator, about 20 miles from the capital of Iowa. Des Moines.

“The long-term effect is that the countries of the world will not see us as a reliable partner.”

It was an alarming week US Trade PolicyA number of Trump announced last weekend that he would punish 25 percent of Tariffs on Mexico and Canada, saying that they do not suffer the flow of migrants and emiss illegal drugs. Then, after the last minute of the two countries, he agreed to give them a 30-day repetition after the talks.

It wasn’t the same for China. For all Chinese imports, he is still a 10% levi imposed. And in Iowa, many believe that it is only a matter of time before the tariffs of the northern and southern neighbors of America have been restored.

The opening hall of the new commercial war was frosted by Midwest. Canada, Mexico and China together make up half of all American agricultural exports. Last year, the United States sold more than $ 30 billion in Agricultural products to Mexico, $ 29 billion to Canada and $ 26 billion in China, according to American Farm Bureau statistics.

Suddenly the farmers faced the spectrum of the right-sighted tariff, and the prospect of a full scale that some fear could determine the rural heart of America.

Farmers in an area of ​​the country, which are now worried, are now worried that the president’s tariffs, despite the last minute, have always damaged the image of the United States in the eyes of its most important trading partners.

“We have gone to the seller of the choice, the seller of the last resort,” Mark Mueller said, the villager from the water world near the northeastern Iowa.

Little US is better incarnate than Iowa’s Agricultural Wealth of the Middle West. It is a country of huge corn fields, as far as the eye can see how the landscape is broken from time to time by grain silo, grass or low-level barn. Hogs exceeds more than one of the people.

It’s also a Trump Country. Although Iowa voted in favor of democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, it duplicated a trump card in 2016, 2020 and 2024 in a larger number.

More than the fifth of the Iowa economy or $ 53.1 billion is associated with agriculture, harvest and animal husbandry production to food processing and production. It is the largest producer of corn, pig, eggs and ethanol and the tall growing of soybeans. Makes it particularly vulnerable to any fall in agricultural exports.

“Free trade is the spine of the Midwest economy,” said Erni Goss, an economist at the University of Omaha Omah. “What we have here is the most effective agriculture in the face of the country, and the domestic market is not even close to all the products produced here. You must have international markets. “

The last VOLEY of tariff threats caused the painful memories of the trading war unleashed by Trump within his first term. The most shocking steps were Trump on the Responsibilities of $ 300 billion on Chinese products. Beijing answered in 2018, 25% tariffs, US soy, beef, pork, wheat, corn and soru.

The shootout was completed in 2020 with a commercial transaction countries, under which Beijing promised to raise our purchases from US goods and services. But since then, it buys more grain from countries such as Argentina and Brazil, which have reached the United States as the best Corn Corn in 2023.

In the last trading war. “And we have returned it.”

Not all Iowa farmers oppose that Trump has used the threat of tariffs to achieve a key policy, stems from illegal immigration.

“It was a strategy that he had to use. Get a number of people on the negotiating table, “said Steve Cooper, the fourth generation Iowa village, who grows corn and soy in the southeastern Mario region. After all.

It is still pessimistic that Mexico and Canada will be able to deliver Trump to their promises to strengthen the border security. “These things will happen, and they have just received 30 days,” he said.

The prospect of another stage of commercial tensions comes with American farmers in a solid place, a decline in harvest prices and higher costs. Net farm’s income, a wide range of profits in 2022 amounted to $ 181.9 billion, but it is projected to have $ 1424 in 2024, a 23% decline in the US Department of Agriculture.

“This is [trade war] It doesn’t come a good time, “said Rick Juchems, the villager in the north of the northern Northern North Forest in Iowa. “Prices for goods are low, and the price of such seeds and fertilizers rises.” The sources of the Association of Ayova Corn Growers say that many farmers produce $ 100 per acre loss.

The investments of new equipment are down, reflecting the wider drop, said Juchems. “I have friends who have lost their jobs for agricultural machinery due to reduced demand. Lots are full of unsold tractors. “

Farm Equipment Manufacturers such as DEERE, KINZE production and Bridgestone / Firestone have been pouring hundreds of jobs in Iowa since last year.

However, the prospects of farm finances may even glamor if Trump is doing well to the threat of import charges. For example, fertilizer can be much more expensive, as more than 80 percent of US Potash supply is a key component – coming from Canada.

But maybe the most destructive effect of tariff debate is the uncertainty that it has caused it right before the initial spring planting season.

“We will get as long as we know what it comes,” said Juchems. “But everything is constantly changing. I am sure that the whole world is laughing at us. “

Polish stated that farmers were trying to be optimistic. “They tell me that they are dominated by coolers, and this dispute will lead to good trading agreements,” Poland said. “But they are also preparing for the worst.”