DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – New trade deals between the United States and Latin America could lower prices for coffee and bananas as part of negotiations by President Donald Trump to reduce some of his previous tariffs on exports that increased grocery prices.
The trade deals are designed to give families relief at the grocery store as prices have increased. But Drake University Professor Dr. Thomas Root said Iowa’s economy feels tariff changes more intensely than other states.
He said the state’s economy relies so heavily on agriculture that any hits to farmers create widespread effects.
“It doesn’t just hurt the farmer. The farmer then puts off doing things like buying new equipment. They put off doing things that are going to help their local economy in terms of spending and things like that. And so it spills over to the rest of the local economy in that lost income,” Root said.
He said the U.S. economy is not looking bad overall, with the unemployment rate remaining steady and inflation relatively low. But he said Iowa is different because higher tariffs impact crop prices, farm revenue, and spending in rural towns.
Farmer and President of the Iowa Farmer’s Union Aaron Lehman said what producers need most is predictability.
“We have to move away from a politically driven, chaotic trade policy to a more pragmatic, fair trade policy that reaches all the way down to the farmer and can have a lasting effect long-term for family sized operations,” Lehman said.
Iowa’s Republican Congressional Delegation has largely supported Trump’s tariffs. However, Senator Chuck Grassley has traditionally opposed the use of higher tariffs and warned that tariffs still hit Iowa harder than most states because of its reliance on agriculture.
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