Amid Trump Tariffs, Farm Bankruptcies And Suicides Rise
Farmers are pretty much under stress all the time since many factors that affect their livelihood are outside of their control. However, over the past few years the combination of lower prices, rain that has created havoc with their ability to plant and finally China freezing the imports of U.S. grown crops due to President Trump’s tariffs has unfortunately created almost the perfect storm against them.
Corn and soybeans are the largest cash crops grown in the U.S. per NASS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. In 2018 the value of corn was $51.5 billion, with soybeans second at $39 billion. The next largest crop was hay, a distant third at $17 billion. For comparison the value of apples grown in the U.S. was about $4 billion and oranges was $2 billion.
Farmers have seen their incomes slashed due to factors outside of their control. However, tariffs imposed by Trump and China’s retaliation are making their situation even direr. This has led to a rise in farm bankruptcies and multiple people warning about the increased stress leading to suicides.
www.forbes.com
92 Percent of Trump’s China Tariff Proceeds Has Gone to Bail Out Angry Farmers
“China” is “paying billions and billions of dollars” on U.S. tariffs, President Trump said in his debate with Joe Biden on October 22. “And you know who got the money? Our farmers. Our great farmers.”
He is half right.
Since 2018, the president has repeatedly insisted that China pays the tariffs he has imposed on Chinese imports. This claim is false—the tariffs are paid entirely by U.S. importers. His advisers, such as Peter Navarro, knowing the claim is false, have tried to defend him, and the tariffs, by arguing that China pays the tariffs indirectly, through currency depreciation and lowering export prices. These arguments are also false, as well as illogical—since the advisers also claim that such Chinese behavior benefits China and hurts the United States.
The president’s statements do, however, check out on his other point. American farmers have indeed laid claim to nearly all his China tariff revenue, which now totals $66 billion.
In 2018 and ’19, Trump authorized payments to U.S. farmers of $28 billion to offset their losses from Chinese trade retaliation. This year, with farmers struggling under the twin crises of the trade war and the pandemic, bailouts have soared way higher. Trump promised angry farmers another $19 billion in April and $14 billion in September—bringing his bailouts to a grand total of $61 billion. He has pledged to continue these bailouts until the trade war ends.
www.cfr.org
Farmers flourish under Biden, see recovery from Trump-era trade wars
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump often espoused his love for America's farmers during his presidency.
But after a year under President Joe Biden, farmers say they're actually feeling the love.
"Well, certainly the difference between 2019 and 2021 is the differences in administrations," Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer said in an interview. "In 2019, our administration was at war with all of our customers." Under Biden, he said, the nation is "rebuilding our relationships with our customers."
The prices of corn and soybeans have increased and demand is up for American exports.
www.nbcnews.com
Orange jeeeesus went to Wharton but apparently didn't learn a thing about business in the real world. Why should he have since he knew he would end up inheriting a fortune?
trump's disastrous tariff policies, ones he wants to double down on if he is re-elected, have been flushed down the MAGA memory hole of the fawning fans he counts as his base. A hole with a limitless capacity for forgetting Don's many failures, scandals, general buffoonery, lies, and of course his role in the attempted insurrection. Which ended up being yet another failure.
