The agriculture industry has plenty of complaints about trade.
The National Pork Producers Council says the European Union puts the U.S. pork industry at a disadvantage. The council is none too happy with trade practices of Ecuador and Brazil, either.
The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, for its part, has a gripe with India. Citing that country’s 100 percent tariffs, it notes that India has imported only $255,000 worth of U.S. chicken parts since 2018.
But neither organization is a fan of unilateral tariffs that, as the pork council said in a statement to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, “will likely lead to retaliation and harm.”
Such is the balance the industry has tried to strike since Donald J. Trump came into office a second time, brandishing a big tariff stick. He quickly signed an executive order placing tariffs on goods coming into the country from Mexico, Canada and China. Mexico and Canada got a temporary reprieve, but President Trump has said more tariffs are coming next month.
His actions have put U.S. farmers in a tough position. Most agricultural trade groups have opposed tariffs, albeit cautiously. U.S. agricultural export revenue was $191 billion last year, according the Department of Agriculture, and the groups believe that the tariffs will raise prices for farmers, exporters and consumers, and that retaliatory tariffs — like those that China imposed on farm products like chicken, pork and soybeans — harm their industries.
But they also know that publicly opposing this administration means they will likely never get an audience with it. And they are hoping that, along with any bad effects, the Trump administration’s trade war — which has been erratic, with tariffs announced one day only to be rescinded or modified days later — might help them address some longstanding grievances with the trade practices of countries around the world.
“U.S. dairy is grateful for the Trump administration’s efforts to hold Canada accountable on these protectionist measures,” the International Dairy Foods Association, which has long complained that Canada subsidizes dairy farmers and abuses a tariff quota system, said in a statement. “At the same time, a prolonged tariff war with our top trading partners will continue to create uncertainty and additional costs for American dairy farmers, processors and our rural communities.”
Plenty of other industry groups have adopted a position similar to the dairy association. Last month, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked interested groups about their grumbles, in order to “assist the U.S. trade representative in reviewing and identifying any unfair trade practices by other countries.”
More than 700 public comments were made in less than three weeks, including dozens by agricultural industries, from Christmas tree farms to shrimpers to the powerful National Corn Growers Association. Collectively, they listed more than 70 countries they believe are violating trade agreements or are otherwise trading unfairly.
The California Association of Winegrape Growers thinks it is unfair that Chilean wine enters the United States tariff-free while American wine is taxed in Chile. The American Potato Trade Alliance does not like that American frozen fries and dehydrated potato products are subject to a 30 percent tariff in Thailand, but that the same products from other countries enter duty free.
The soybean industry is emblematic of the challenges — and opportunities — facing the agricultural industry. Around half of American soybean exports go to China, and Jim Sutter, the chief executive of the U.S. Soybean Export Council, said he hoped American and Chinese officials would come to the negotiating table and avoid a long trade war, “because nobody really wins in that.” China placed a 10 percent tariff on American soybean imports this month.
But, Mr. Sutter added, he also sees reciprocal tariffs — that is, imposing levies equal to what other countries charge — as an “interesting opportunity” to strike new trade deals. “Our leadership has had a different way of trying to engage other countries,” he said.
Mr. Sutter has experience with this outcome. In 2017, over $12 billion worth of U.S. soybeans were exported to China. In 2018, when President Trump engaged in a trade war with that country, the amount dropped to just over $3 billion. Two years later, the United States and China ended the discord with a new trade deal.
“I think that agreement was an improvement of where we were before,” Mr. Sutter said.
But even with a new and improved agreement, the U.S. soybean industry is feeling the effects of the 2018 trade war. China looked to Brazil, and as a result, its share of U.S. soybean exports remains below 2017 levels, while its imports of Brazilian soybeans have rapidly increased. Investments by both China and Brazil in the logistics of getting Brazilian soybeans to China have permanently increased their competitiveness with American soybeans.
Darci Vetter, who was the chief agricultural negotiator for the U.S. trade representative during the Obama administration, said addressing problems with trade agreements was important. If the United States is going to review major trade agreements, industry groups want to make sure the Trump administration is aware of their complaints.
But she warned that if industry groups were sidetracked by lists of “irritants,” they risked losing out on the enormous benefits from trade.
“One of the things that is amazing about the United States is the vast variety of crops we can grow given our geographic diversity and the amount of fertile land we have,” she said. “So both the breadth and depth of the ag trade relationship, north and south, is pretty remarkable.”