C_Clayton_Jones
Diamond Member
āVoters in agricultural communities of Central Washington asked for nothing when they voted for Donald Trump last November. And thatās exactly what they got.
The heartland of our stateās multibillion-dollar crop and orchard export economy is in the crosshairs of Trump Administrationās trade and tariff policies. Trump is putting it all together: immigrant undocumented farmworkers are targeted for deportation; high tariffs are being slapped on imports which will lead to retaliatory tariffs on stuff we ship abroad.
āI represent a trade economy: I represent the success of what innovation and trade get you,ā Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told a bevy of administration officials at a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing. She cited a familiar figureāthat two of every five Washington jobs is linked in some form to our export/import economy.
Washington exported $7.6 billion in agricultural products last year. In the last decade, I and other scribes poked fun at Gov. Inslee when he led door-opening trips (ājunketsā) across the Pacific to market our cherries and apples. Jokes about frostiness flew through the cold warehouse full of Asia-bound spuds where Cantwell held a press briefing. We should not laugh. Seventy percent of our potato crop is exported, along with 30 percent of apples (largely to India), and 25 percent of cherries (mainly China-bound).ā
www.postalley.org
Voters in agricultural communities of Central Washington voted against their own interests last November and have come to regret it.
The heartland of our stateās multibillion-dollar crop and orchard export economy is in the crosshairs of Trump Administrationās trade and tariff policies. Trump is putting it all together: immigrant undocumented farmworkers are targeted for deportation; high tariffs are being slapped on imports which will lead to retaliatory tariffs on stuff we ship abroad.
āI represent a trade economy: I represent the success of what innovation and trade get you,ā Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told a bevy of administration officials at a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing. She cited a familiar figureāthat two of every five Washington jobs is linked in some form to our export/import economy.
Washington exported $7.6 billion in agricultural products last year. In the last decade, I and other scribes poked fun at Gov. Inslee when he led door-opening trips (ājunketsā) across the Pacific to market our cherries and apples. Jokes about frostiness flew through the cold warehouse full of Asia-bound spuds where Cantwell held a press briefing. We should not laugh. Seventy percent of our potato crop is exported, along with 30 percent of apples (largely to India), and 25 percent of cherries (mainly China-bound).ā
Tariffs are Killing Eastern Washingtonās Agricultural Export Business
The heartland of our stateās multibillion-dollar crop and orchard export economy is in the crosshairs of Trump Administrationās trade and tariff policies.
www.postalley.org
Voters in agricultural communities of Central Washington voted against their own interests last November and have come to regret it.
