Tariffs or Not Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Are tariffs a good tool to use when negotiating with our trading partners? That’s a big question right now.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse is being patient, and says it’s still early …
NEWHOUSE … “Three months is not very long to come up with several hundred bilateral trade deals going through the negotiations.”
But our farmers, Newhouse says need some certainty …
NEWHOUSE … “Our agricultural producers in the state of Washington, we are one of the most trade-reliant states in the country, as you know, and we need to have some clarity before a lot of our products begin harvest. So, I hope that they’re working as hard as they can to that stuff done.”
But does the President really understand how it could impact agriculture? …
NEWHOUSE … “We’ve been making that point with the administration for the last couple of months that the agricultural industry is facing some tremendous challenges already, prior to the tariff discussions, and we don’t need anything else that’s going to jeopardize the industries’ ability to be successful.”
Newhouse says he hopes we’ve learned from past experience …
NEWHOUSE … “People are concerned about the long-term impact of a trade war and the retaliatory kinds of tariffs that we’ve seen in the past from other countries that truly, negatively impact the ag industry. We want to avoid that.”
On the other hand, Newhouse believes that all the President is trying to do is level the playing field.
