(WATCH) Farm Tariffs


America’s reputation for feeding the world may be faltering. For the second year in a row we’re buying more food from foreign countries than we’re selling. Lisa Fletcher reports on how complex trade policies and politics are impacting US farmers.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

Caleb Ragland comes from a long line of Kentucky farmers, growing staple crops like corn and wheat since Thomas Jefferson was in the White House.

Today, he’s planting what has historically been another hot staple—soybeans. But lately, that market has cooled, and that concerns Ragland, who is raising the crop on his 4,000-acre farm in Magnolia, about an hour south of Louisville.

Caleb Ragland: The American farmer is the best producer of any in the world. Give us the markets, and we’ll take care of producing what’s needed.

Lisa Fletcher: How important are soybeans to American agriculture?

Caleb Ragland: They’re actually our largest ag export. It’s a huge deal to the ag economy across the country.

Ragland says he noticed his biggest customer—China—buying less starting in 2018, soon after President Trump imposed about $50 billion in tariffs, or an import tax, on Chinese products shipped to the U.S.

President Donald Trump: “The word that I want to use is ‘reciprocal.’ When they charge 25 percent for a car to go in, and we charge 2 percent for their car to come into the United States, that’s not good.”

Trump added tariffs because of China’s unfair trade practices like cheap forced labor and direct government support to Chinese companies that give them a huge advantage over American businesses and workers.

Trump’s tariffs, the majority of which the Biden administration kept, had an effect. Until recently, China was the leading buyer of U.S. agricultural products like soybeans and livestock. But now China buys more corn and soybeans from Brazil than the U.S.

Ragland is not alone in his concern.

A recent poll of farmers showed fewer than half expected to send more of their crops to foreign markets than just four years ago.

Caleb Ragland: There is a large disconnect between politics in Washington and the farm.

Expanding markets, says Ragland, should be a political priority. The U.S. has not entered into a trade agreement with a new country since 2012.

Lisa Fletcher: Do you think that presidential candidates and even Congress have lost sight of what American farmers need when it comes to trade policies?

Caleb Ragland: I want to see us finding new markets. There’s more people in India than there are in China, and we don’t send them any soybeans. Let’s find ways to go there.

And that’s what the U.S. hasn’t been doing enough of, says Bill Reinsch, who served in the Clinton administration handling export affairs.

Lisa Fletcher: What do American farmers need from the next President?

William “Bill” Reinsch: I think both the current administration and the last one have missed opportunities to push that agenda more forcefully. Other countries are going to come in and say, “Well, you want us to buy more of your pork? You’re going to have to buy more of our rice.” Well, that’s not a bad bargain, but the rice farmers in Arkansas may not be very happy about that. But the win-win piece is, if we can sell more abroad, that’s win-win.

Lisa Fletcher: We think of these trade policies as affecting farmers in a very broad, national economy, but how much do these policies really affect them at a local level?

William “Bill” Reinsch: Communities are becoming unsustainable because so many people have left. Getting that back really means revitalizing the family farm and enabling that kind of trickle-down to occur.

Back in Magnolia, Ragland knows tough choices are ahead.

Lisa Fletcher: President Trump put these tariffs on China because China is not a good global citizen, and China may be working to undermine us in many very detrimental ways. How do you balance those concerns with the economics of farming and exporting your crops?

Caleb Ragland: Bottom line, I’m an American. I’m a farmer. I want to see our country stay strong. I want to see what’s best for our country.

Lisa Fletcher: But according to Reinsch, it seems both parties are committed to continuing ‘America First’ trade policies. So it may be four more years before farmers see those foreign markets opening.

For Full Measure, I’m Lisa Fletcher.

Watch video here.


Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 thoughts on “(WATCH) Farm Tariffs”

  1. Tariffs are central economic planning and statist intervention in the economy and have no place in free market capitalism. Tariffs are a tax on consumers, and food, thanks to government-induced inflation, is expensive enough already.

Scroll to Top