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Democratic Senators concerned ongoing trade rift will have long-term impact on farmers

A group of Democratic Senators is pressing the Trump administration for answers on how its tariff policy will impact farmers. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin tells Brownfield, “We are going to see a situation where many can’t make ends meet and sadly some will go out of business because of a totally unnecessary manufactured crisis.”

Baldwin and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Amy Klobuchar recently sent a letter to the President’s U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer asking for transparency from the administration.

She says the announced tariffs will directly affect farmers’ bottom line.  “This appears to be an across-the-board tariff that nobody has looked at its impact on agriculture,” she says.  “Or even beyond that, certain types of agriculture.”

Baldwin says markets don’t like uncertainty. “The on again off again, the pause,” she says.  “That also harms our farmers and our families who buy groceries at the grocery store every week.”

She says any prolonged trade rift could add to uncertainty and volatility in the farm economy.

AUDIO: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin