Farmers are the ones taking the bullets in Trump’s on-again, off-again trade wars | Opinion

We need to talk about tariffs. 

Let’s start with the obvious truth: Whether they are imposed by Democrats or Republicans, tariffs are taxes paid by us — not by foreign countries. 

Walk around your house and pick up anything that says “Made in China.” Now, imagine the price of this item is double or triple what you paid for it because of an escalating 145% tariff. Inflation was already bad enough, but what happens when tariffs start making necessities like food even more unaffordable? That hurts America’s farmers and families.

I introduced the Stop Raising Prices on Food Act in Congress, which revokes the president’s unilateral authority to impose tariffs on our largest agricultural trading partners without congressional approval. This shouldn’t be controversial or partisan. This should be common sense. 

The last time we played this dangerous game in 2018, American farmers lost over $27 billion in agricultural exports due to retaliatory tariffs. California alone lost $683 million, and the most significant losses were concentrated in the top exports from the communities I represent including processed fruits, tree nuts and dairy products. 

Now, incredibly, we’re doing it all over again.

The current administration’s on-again, off-again approach to international trade has created a climate of uncertainty that’s poison for agricultural producers who need stability to plan their operations. Farmers can’t pivot on a dime. They can’t suddenly find new markets when China, Canada or Mexico slap retaliatory tariffs on their products. They can’t un-plant crops or un-grow fruit when market conditions suddenly change.

The American Farm Bureau estimates that new retaliatory tariffs from just three countries — Canada, Mexico and China — could impact nearly $30 billion in agricultural exports. When farmers say that tariffs are a tax on producers and consumers, they’re not speaking from some ivory tower detached from the real world, they’re speaking from bitter experience. They’ve already lived through one trade war that turned their businesses upside down. They’ve already shouldered losses that would have bankrupted many other industries. 

Some will say that tariffs are necessary to protect American industry. But which American industries are we protecting when we invite tariffs against our farmers? Some politicians say we just need to be tough, but it’s easy to be tough when they aren’t the farmer paying the cost.

In 2018, the Department of Agriculture had to create a $12 billion assistance program to help farmers weather retaliatory tariffs. Think about that: We imposed tariffs, which led to counter-tariffs, which devastated our farmers and required taxpayer money to fix a problem we created ourselves. This isn’t economic strategy; it’s economic malpractice. 

That’s why my legislation matters. It ensures Congress has the power to stop any president, Democrat or Republican, from turning America’s farmers into collateral damage in a trade war. 

If you believe in American agriculture, in stable markets and that the people who feed this nation deserve better than to be treated as expendable in international power plays, then you should support the Stop Raising Prices on Food Act.