June 19, 2018
After weeks of engaging with the Trump Administration to gain insight into the future of trade tariffs, agriculture producers and related industries dependent on exports to China are turning to Congress for help.The White House has declared that by June 15 it would announce its final list of $50 billion in Chinese products that would be subject to 25 percent tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. In response, China’s Commerce Department announced several months ago that it would impose retaliatory tariffs on 106 U.S. goods amounting to roughly $50 billion in imports.In the announcement, China specifically stated that it will impose a 25 percent tariff on imports of U.S. soybeans, a tax that could be devastating to growers of the number one U.S. agricultural export, with sales to China last year totaling $14 billion.Davie Stephens, a Kentucky soybean grower and Vice President of the American Soybean Association (ASA), is among growers distraught over the prospect of tariffs on trade.“Crop prices have dropped 40 percent in just the last five years, and farm income is down 50 percent compared to 2013. A recent study by Purdue University economists predicts that soybean exports to China could drop by a whopping 65 percent if China imposes a 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans. As a soy grower, I depend on trade with China – China imports roughly 60 percent of total U.S. soybean exports, representing nearly 1 in 3 rows of harvested soybeans,” Stephens said.Soybeans are one of a number of crops that could see steep and lasting effects if China retaliates against U.S. tariffs.
