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NCGA: The US risks losing market share if tariff talks continue

The president of the National Corn Growers Association says he wants to see the Trump administration to quickly resolve trade disruptions.

Illinois farmer Kenneth Hartman Jr. says drawn-out negotiations could put US market share at risk.

“Vietnam and the Philippines are markets that we could possibly expand with,” he says. “We also look at India as a possible important market. We understand that they’re wanting to look at buying ethanol to clean up their environment, so these are opportunities that we think that he could possibly work on.”

He tells Brownfield developing new markets takes time.

“If we end up in a situation where we have tariffs for a long period of time, Brazil and Argentina will expand more acreage,” he says. “We are concerned that they could come up and take some of our customers away if we aren’t able to get some of these agreements worked out in the next few months.”

Hartman says corn growers need less trade barriers to be more competitive in the global market.

AUDIO: Kenneth Hartman Jr.