NFU: White House Needs New Tactics With China

While trade talks continue between the U.S and China, the Trump Administration elected last week to increase existing tariffs, and add additional ones on products imported from China.  Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union said this tactic has not proven successful, and has only hurt the American farmer.

“China’s unfair and manipulative trade practices are clearly a problem that need to be fixed. But addressing these practices has created new problems for American farmers and ranchers in the form of lost export markets, a commodity glut, and severely depressed prices.”

In response China has announced plans to enforce “necessary countermeasures,” against American products.  Johnson said after a year of this trade war, there is no end in sight.

“At this point, we can’t expect export markets to go back to the way they were – the damage has already been done. In the long term, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the way we establish the economic sustainability of agricultural production in the U.S."

Johnson said until that happens family farmers and ranchers are in desperate need of a lifeboat to keep them afloat.  He said that could be another round of Marketing Facilitation Program payments or some other form of economic disaster assistance.

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