An American Farm Bureau official says President Trump’s tariff wars could change the face of U.S. farm trade for years to come.  President Trump is asking farmers this week to be patient and argues they’ll be “much better off” when the fight is over.  But, American Farm Bureau’s Dave Salmonsen said when this fight is over, the global trading field may not look the same.

 

“China buyers will have looked elsewhere they have their needs they want to buy, the fact that there’s other commodities out there, so it will be a tougher competitive situation when we come out on the other side of this.”

 

Salmonsen still welcomes the ‘rescue’ package and says it buys the administration some time, but agrees it signals trading partners the U.S. is willing to fight on.

 

“Other investigations other processes are going forward which could add some more tariffs on there that we haven’t seen.  New potential tariffs on autos which the U.S. is proposing," Salmonsen said.  "That might invite retaliation.”

 

 

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