"Farmers like Kevin Deinert in South Dakota, who opens the hatch of a shiny silver grain bin on his farm that's full of this year's soybean harvest. "I stored everything I could, so it's full, as you can see," he says. "A little too full." In recent years, Deinert's bins would be empty by now, his soybeans sold to China, which has been buying about 25 million metric tons annually from the U.S. since 2019."
"But this spring, they started buying them from Brazil and other countries instead, in response to President Trump levying tariffs against Chinese exports to the U.S. The Chinese market evaporated as prices farmers pay for fertilizer and other products they need have been rising sharply due to inflation and tariffs Trump imposed on Canada and other countries that produce them. That's left a lot of farmers in the red."
President Trump announced a $12 billion assistance package for American farmers. Many farmers remain unprofitable because tariffs and trade disputes have reduced export markets and raised input costs. Soybean farmers who previously sold about 25 million metric tons annually to China have lost that market as China began buying from Brazil and others after tariffs. Fertilizer and other input prices have risen sharply due to inflation and tariffs on Canada and other producers, pushing many farmers into the red. Farmers and groups call the aid meaningful but insufficient and urge recalibrated trade strategies, new markets, stronger domestic demand, and long-term farm viability. State chapters of the National Farmers Union expressed stronger criticism of the trade policies.
Read at www.npr.org
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]