New York Times: What Tariffs Have Unleashed for US Farmers

The United States is a major agricultural power, and about half of all US corn and soybeans are exported. China and other countries targeted with tariffs from the Trump administration immediately retaliated by targeting US agriculture products. “Indeed, the impact of his tariffs will probably be felt by family farms and the area for generations,” writes Robert Leonard in an opinion essay for the New York Times. Other agriculture powerhouses like Brazil and India will step up to serve as substitute markets, prices will drop and the US could lose some customers permanently. The trade war comes at a time as many US farmers near retirement, and Leonard suggests the tariffs will fuel farm sales and consolidation. Bank, hospital and school closings will soon follow, according to Leonard, adding to the economic struggle for small rural communities: “Trump didn’t start it, but he has accelerated a crisis that might have taken a generation or two to play out. Now it might take only a few years.” The Trump administration is destroying a way of life for some of its fiercest supporters. – YaleGlobal