
Tariffs threaten to upend markets American farmers depend on
U.S. row crop farmers produce enormous quantities of food, and they depend on selling lots of it overseas. They thrive under free trade policies.

U.S. row crop farmers produce enormous quantities of food, and they depend on selling lots of it overseas. They thrive under free trade policies.

President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States.

Gov. JB Pritzker wrapped up a four-day trip to Mexico City on Wednesday, hopeful a trade mission to Mexico will yield new economic development in Illinois, even as tariffs threaten the stability of the United States’ global trade.

The Trump administration’s tariff announcements this week are bringing uncertainty to farmers going into planting season. Farm groups warn that retaliatory tariffs will add an additional “burden” to U.S. producers.

Starting just past midnight Tuesday, imports from Canada and Mexico are now taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products subject to 10% import duties. In addition, the 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%.

The Illinois Farm Bureau is concerned about harm to the state’s farmers from potential tariffs on the United States’ top three agricultural trading partners: Mexico, Canada and China.

Canada and Mexico are among Illinois’ top trading partners

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed to put planned tariffs on hold for a month. Trump’s tariffs against Canada and China are still slated to go into effect on Tuesday.

For his second term, Trump proposed various tariffs on the campaign trail and after his election, including a 60% tariff increase on Chinese imports and an additional 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico.

Many economists and commodity groups say import taxes on products from countries such as China, Mexico and Canada could boomerang and harm U.S. agriculture.

Apple Podcasts Spotify Podcasts Google Podcasts RSS Link 217 Today — Friday, Oct. 2, 2020 Today’s headlines: Pressure on Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is ramping up as one of his fellow Democrats announced a challenge to his speakership yesterday. Champaign County reported its 2nd COVID-19 death in as many days yesterday, for a total of 22

Updated April 4 to clarify the export percentage — China matters to the U.S. pork industry, as more than a quarter of all hogs raised here are shipped…