WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, in a Committee hearing on the Agricultural Economy, raised concerns from farmers about the impact of the Administration’s proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico. In response to Klobuchar’s questioning, National Farmers Union President Rob Larew testified that even the threat of tariffs is“adding costs onto goods,” with some places even “not selling [products] for delivery beyond a certain date.” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall added, “One of the concerns we expressed was the potential shrinking of the markets. … We need more access, not less. We need more fair trade deals, not less. … The other issue is the cost of production … [which] would be devastating to our farmers.”
“While I support targeted tariffs, I have serious concerns about sweeping, across-the-board tariffs that threaten our farmers’ livelihoods,” said Klobuchar. “Both the American Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union have expressed concerns about the tariffs and how they could lead to financial hardships for U.S. farmers and ranchers, and of course create higher prices for consumers. Across-the-board tariffs open American farmers to retaliatory tariffs, and we’ve seen this before. What our farmers want is fair trade, not aid.”
“The decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, even if delayed 30 days, could increase costs for inputs like fertilizer just as they’re trying to plan for an upcoming season,” Klobuchar continued. “A tariff on Canadian potash could increase fertilizer costs by as much as $1.70 an acre for corn and $1.42 an acre for soybeans. American farmers have worked for decades to improve their international market access. We have been able to find common ground in this Committee on this issue, such as the market promotion funding and the recent initiative launched by USDA. We need to build on, not roll back, this progress.”
In response to Klobuchar’s question about the impact of tariffs on American farmers, National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said, “I would start first with not only the potential implications of these tariffs, but the real experience that we’re hearing out there about suppliers of fertilizer and other goods who are already adding costs onto goods that we’re buying. We’re hearing some places that are not selling for delivery products beyond a certain date because of the threat. So first of all, there’s the very real kind of challenges right now. I was just in Columbus, Indiana talking to a farmer who the whole time we were talking was on the phone trying to get product across the Canadian border before any potential threat there. Meanwhile, costs were going up.”
In response to Klobuchar’s question about the long-term damage of tariffs on trading and market share, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, “One of the concerns we expressed is the potential shrinking of the markets. Because countries and companies can just decide to go buy it elsewhere where they have reliability to the market and don’t have the access to it. And we do see our competitors in Brazil continue to do the wrong things to expand their production down there to compete with us, and it makes it very difficult on our farmers anyway. So the shrinkage of the market—we need more access, not less. We need more fair trade deals, not less. … The other issue is the cost of production. I think you said it yourself, over 80% of the potash comes out of Canada that goes on our cropland, and that would be devastating to our farmers.”
A rough transcript of Klobuchar’s opening statement can be viewed here, and video of the entire Committee hearing can be found here.
###