Rep. Smith supports Trump trade policy, blames Chinese tariffs for farm woes

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith says China’s retaliatory tariffs negatively affect his Salem, Missouri, cattle farm, but he still supports President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese imports in the ongoing trade war.

“China has raised tariffs on cattle and is threatening to do it again,” the Republican congressman said.

But he said he and other American farmers need to continue to back Trump’s policies to secure fair trade.

Smith said farmers in his congressional district of Southeast Missouri often think the president imposed the tariffs on soybeans when, in fact, “they are tariffs imposed by the Chinese.”

Smith said the trade war with China “didn’t start yesterday.”

He said the United States has had a $400 billion trade deficit with China for years. The difference now, he said, is “we have a president who is fighting back.”

Smith said, “The Chinese are only putting tariffs on our ag commodities because they are politically trying to hurt the supporters of the president.”

Many American farmers have been strong Trump supporters.

Missouri Farm Bureau president Blake Hurst said there is “still a tremendous amount of support for President Trump in rural Missouri.”

But he said Friday farmers are frustrated with the lack of progress in trade talks between China and the Trump administration.

The imposition of another round of tariffs and the lack of a trade deal was a “real gut punch to farmers,” Hurst said.

“There is a lot of frustration in farm country, obviously compounded by the fact that spring planting is a disaster,” he said, pointing out the wet weather has delayed planting of crops.

Even without a trade war, American farmers would have been hit in the pocketbook, according to Hurst.

That’s because surplus yields of corn and soybeans over the past five years have led to more supply than demand, driving down commodity prices, he said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is making plans to provide $15 million to $20 million in subsidies to farmers affected by the higher tariffs.

Hurst said he and other farmers would prefer not to have to take a bailout. But farmers will “take that money and use it to pay bills” if that is the best option for now, he said.

Smith, who supports the bailout, said he would prefer to have free markets around the world.

“I believe the best trade is free and open trade. The problem is the Chinese have not been fair,” he said.

The congressman said the trade war is hurting the Chinese economy more than the United States’ economy.

“The Chinese can’t handle it much longer,” Smith said.

Farmers want markets where they can sell their goods, Smith said.

But farmers must deal with “pain right now” until the two nations can come to a trade agreement, Smith said.

According to Politico, an online website covering politics, U.S. Sen Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said farmers feel the impact of the tariffs.

“The farm community up ’til now has really supported the president without flinching. But eventually you flinch,” Blunt told the website.

Still, he concluded “if you are going to have a trade fight, the trade fight to have would be the China fight,” according to Politico.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, recently told KHQA, a television station covering northeastern Missouri, the tariff war was started by China, when China started to build their middle class and military on the backs of U.S. middle class. He said China needs to agree to an enforceable agreement that is fair for both countries.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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