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A Farmer on Trump’s Trade War: I Can’t ‘Take It’

A corn, soybean and cattle farmer in Ohio responds to President Trump’s assertion that farmers are O.K. with tariffs.

Out here in agriculture country, we can’t just sit around and hope that things are going to get better. I’m a Republican. I’ve always been a Republican. I voted for President Trump. I want to support him. China and others have targeted our farmers. Not good. Not nice. And you know what our farmers are saying? It’s O.K., we can take it. These are incredible people. We can take it. That makes my blood boil, because by God, I’ll tell you this: I can draw a direct line from when the president started this tariff rhetoric in the price of my soybeans. The United States was allowed to truly get ripped off. In March, the price of soybeans was $10.50 a bushel. Today, it’s $8.50 a bushel. That’s a 20% decrease. I have to tell you, Mr. President, this hurts. This is hurting our long-term future. This is hurting me. Whether it’s transportation, whether it’s production, whether it’s the clerk at the grocery store — when agriculture gets sick, everybody feels that kind of pain. It’s really easy to be ideological when both your belly and your wallet are fat. But when you’re broke and hungry, then you have to be practical. Mr. President, what I would tell you is this — we’ve built these agriculture markets, for decades — your tariff rhetoric serves to only tear those down and to provide uncertainty to the market. You’re going to make it back, and it’s going to be made back faster than anybody would know. Hope is not a marketing plan. Hope is not a business plan, and I know you know that.

Opinion

A Farmer on Trump’s Trade War: I Can’t ‘Take It’

By Leah Varjacques August 2, 2018

A corn, soybean and cattle farmer in Ohio responds to President Trump’s assertion that farmers are O.K. with tariffs.

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Opinion Video features innovative video journalism commentary — argued essays, Op-Ed videos, documentaries, and fact-based explanation of current affairs. The videos are produced by both outside video makers and The Times’s Opinion Video team.
Opinion Video features innovative video journalism commentary — argued essays, Op-Ed videos, documentaries, and fact-based explanation of current affairs. The videos are produced by both outside video makers and The Times’s Opinion Video team.

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