Since President Trump’s announcement in the spring of 2018 that tariffs on steel and aluminum imports go into effect targeting China and other countries worldwide, many U.S. trading partners have answered with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that included more than 800 U.S. food and agricultural products.
While China marks the major target of what some are terming the new trade war, other countries, including the European Union (EU), Turkey, Canada and Mexico, are also imposing or considering retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products that create additional troubles for U.S. farmers, who are already suffering from low crop prices and growing international competition across the global marketplace.
U.S. soybean farmers may be the hardest hit by the ongoing trade issue, but California tree nut producers are also feeling the squeeze of unstable global markets as a result. While better poised to suffer the tariff setbacks than many commodity crop farmers because of strong demand and more stable prices, nut growers are still feeling the pressure, if for no other reason than the timing for a quick resolution to trade issues remain unknown.
In response to U.S. agriculture woes over the trade war, a development the president has called “beneficial in the long run,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue worked closely with the White House to develop a Market Facilitation Program (MFP) that would provide some support for losses suffered by U. S. farmers, including California nut producers.
Without question, MFP payments have helped qualifying U.S. farmers to find some relief from retaliatory tariffs, but most agree the program falls short of covering all their losses and represents only a temporary, stopgap measure.
Perdue and the Trump administration have been quick to respond that continuing negotiations with China could bring a close to an escalating trade war in recent weeks. Though a 90-day delay has passed, the President extended that deadline until he meets with China President Xi Jinping the last week of March at his Mar-Lago Resort.