Ag Retailers Need Predictable Trade Policy

The Agricultural Retailers Association said it understands the desire of the Trump administration to stop unfair trading practices in the global marketplace that lead to artificial trade imbalances.  ARA said some of the countries singled out by the White House have lengthy patterns of putting their proverbial thumbs on the scale to the disadvantage of U.S. producers and exporters.  

The Association adds global supply chains can’t adjust overnight, nor can they function in an unpredictable tariff environment.  It takes years to build new production capacity anywhere in the world.  Many of the products and ingredients that are used in agricultural inputs in the U.S. are only available in commercial quantities from offshore sources, they noted.

Immediate-effect tariffs that allow no adjustment period to complete current contracts and arrange for new supply sources will only result in higher costs and less product availability for U.S. farmers in the short term.  Damage to export relationships can also be long-lasting.

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