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Tariff talk has many farmers on edge

The threat of another trade war has many farmers on edge.

Kevin Semlow, executive director of governmental affairs & commodities with the Illinois Farm Bureau, says the organization is stressing the importance of trade to federal officials.

“We really do not need to be in a trade war.”  He says, “It’s important that we have export markets and we’re just carrying that message out there to think about agriculture and what that means. If we have restrictive trade barriers put on us through tariffs, or other measures, that really impacts the bottom line of farming.”

He tells Brownfield the talk of reciprocal tariffs announced by the Trump administration is a new take on the policy.

“We hear these concepts rolled out, but the devil is always in the details.”  He says, “So, we’re waiting to see what those actually look like.  Hopefully we don’t see anything that really puts our markets at a disadvantage, especially for agriculture.”

Semlow says farmers are already suffering from low incomes, and any further market deterioration would be detrimental to weathering the ongoing economic storm.

Brownfield spoke with Semlow at the Illinois Farm Bureau’s annual Governmental Affairs & Leadership Conference in Springfield.

AUDIO: Kevin Semlow – Illinois Farm Bureau