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Soybean leader reacts to new Trump tariffs

 

Ag leaders are quickly reacting to the new President Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum.  Mike Steenhoek with the Soy Transportation Coalition tells Brownfield he’s encouraged by the Mexico and Canada exemptions, but there is still a risk for U.S. agriculture producers.  “You don’t have to have a wholesale abandonment of importing soybeans from the United States to have a real detrimental impact on the profitability on our industry.  All it requires is just a marginal pullback, and all of the sudden, that can be the difference between a farmer being in the black versus being in the red.”

Steenhoek says the ag industry is a likely target for trade retaliation.  “It’s one of the industries that is most quickly assessed with retaliatory measures.  While we don’t know what specifically the outcome of all of this will be, it is very much reason for concern.  It’s not something that we’re optimistic about.”

The 10% tariff on aluminum and 25% tariff on steel imports begins March 23^rd.