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Tariff extension fueling economic uncertainty for farmers
Photo contributed by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
A pair of Iowa farmers say the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the current trade landscape is impacting the long-term growth of the ag economy.
Aaron Lehman, Iowa Farmers Union president, says the Trump administration’s recent decision to extend the retaliatory tariff deadline to August 1st continues to fuel economic uncertainty for farmers.
“It stifles innovation, and farmers are worrying just how to stabilize their economic situation rather than concentrating on ways to innovate,” he says. “This trade approach hasn’t gotten to us any closer to fixing those problems and has not gotten us any closer to fair trade.”
Robert Hemesath, board president of Farmers for Free Trade, says producers are concerned about losing permanent market share.
“We watch our market share around the world dissipate or decline, and we don’t know if this lasts for an extended period of time,” he says. “Will we get those markets back? Those customers are going to look elsewhere for those products.”
Both farmers say the U.S. needs to establish more free trade agreements to provide stability to the ag community and to the overall economy.
Lehman and Hemesath made their comments during a recent Farmers for Free Trade and Tariffs Cost US webinar.