Agriculture associations in the US turned to the Congress for help after their voices have fallen on Trump’s deaf ears. The American Soybean Association (ASA), the National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) issued a joint appeal to the Congress with hashtag #TradeNotTariffs.
The urged the Congress to “convince the administration to halt tariffs and go back to the negotiating table.” And, Under the hashtag #TradeNotTariffs, members of these organizations are also raising awareness on social media by sharing with the public what tariffs could mean for their livelihoods – and how severe that outlook could be.
This is an immediate response to the news that White House would announce the final list of tariffs on USD 50B in Chinese goods. Chinese has announced a retaliation list several months ago that include 25% tariffs on US soybeans. ASA described the Chinese retaliation as “devastating to growers of the number one US agricultural export.” NAWG said “adding a 25 percent tariff on exports to China for US wheat is the last thing we need during some of the worst economic times in farm country.”
NCGA warned farmers “cannot afford the immediate pain of retaliation nor the longer term erosion of long-standing market access and economic partnerships with some of our closest friends and allies.” AEM also said “we strongly oppose a trade war with China because no one ever wins in these tit-for-tat dispute”.
Here is the full release.
