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Tariff concerns continue amid global trade tensions

Many in the ag industry continue to express concern about how President Trump’s tariffs will impact the farm economy.

West Central Ohio farmer Fred Yoder says the trade tensions are creating uncertainty and volatility in agriculture that the industry can’t afford. “It makes me really nervous when we start putting tariffs on our favored importers like Mexico and Canada,” he says.  “It makes me very nervous that those markets will go away.”

AUDIO: Fred Yoder, Ohio farmer

John Bode, president of the Corn Refiners Association, says tariffs can be used as leverage. “The real focus is where is this headed,” he says.  “What is the endpoint? If the endpoint is to have fairer trade relationships, that’s great. That’s what we need.”  Bode also chairs the agriculture trade and policy advisory committee for the USDA and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. But, he tells Brownfield that rural America and agriculture are hurting.  “American agriculture is large, and there are parts of agriculture that are hurting more than others,” he says.  “But agriculture is experiencing pain broadly.”

AUDIO: John Bode, Corn Refiners Association

Yoder says farmers are nervous. “I hope it’s just a tool to negotiate a better deal,” he says.  “But in the meantime, we have to survive, and it’s not much fun right now being a farmer because we don’t have the certainty that we need.”

Some tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico have been delayed until April.