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Trump targets Mexico, Canada, and China with tariffs as farmers could see impact


Corn Grower Michael Dibbern
Corn Grower Michael Dibbern
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President-Elect Donald Trump threatens Mexico and Canada with tariffs. The incoming president provides new details on his America first agenda and already folks in Nebraska’s biggest industry are bracing for impact.

Trade is critical but corn grower Michael Dibbern doesn’t know what the Trump administration’s policies will do this time.

“There's many unknowns. It was unknown the last time, crazy things happened, not only did we have market issues, trade issues but some other things happened and you never know until after the fact how things shake out,” Dibbern said.

The president-elect on his social media platform blamed Mexico and Canada for drugs and crime. Trump says one of his first executive orders will be a 25 percent tariff on all products coming from our neighbors – also our largest trade partners.

Economists agree tariffs will result in higher prices for consumers.

And agriculture is often the first industry targeted in return. Economists at Wells Fargo in a recent report wrote, “higher tariffs on U.S. imports under the Trump Administration may result in retaliatory tariffs from our trading partners, putting agricultural exports at risk. State economies that rely more heavily on agriculture may be disproportionately affected, including the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa.”

Nebraska’s state ag director says farmers and ranchers are justifiably concerned about tariffs.

“But we have also worked very hard in Nebraska over the last years to diversify our markets and not be so reliant on one trading partner so int he event these tariffs, Nebraska should be more insulated,” Sherry Vinton said.

Trump also says he will add an additional ten percent tariff on China. A National Corn Growers analysis finds corn and soybean farmers would suffer from an immediate drop in exports while Brazil and Argentina would quickly capture that market, creating long-term harm for American producers. The Corn Growers report says the impact could be nearly 8 billion dollars.

Corn growers like Michael Dibbern remain optimistic they will be welcomed by this administration and welcome dialogue.

“We have to wait and see and as it comes down to it tell our story in Washington and do what we can,” he said.

Agriculture contributes a greater share to Nebraska’s economy than almost any other state which is why farmers and ranchers here are anxious to see what the impacts will be.

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