What Some Agriculture Groups Are Saying About Trump’s New Tariffs

New tariffs proposed by President Trump have been making lots of headlines lately. Front and center on the table are 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada. Trump met recently with Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. After the meetings, an agreement was made to delay those tariffs for one month. In the meantime, agriculture associations are speaking out on this big issue.

The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) continues to advocate its position supporting fair trade with the Administration, media, and industry.

The association’s position is defined by these four points:

• IFPA believes every nation that can feed itself should do so. And, like many agricultural organizations, we firmly support fair and thriving international trade. Fair trade expands markets, drives prosperity, and ensures access to fresh, nutritious foods worldwide.
• U.S. fresh produce growers and suppliers play a pivotal role in this system, feeding Americans and consumers worldwide while fostering mutually beneficial trade relationships. Fresh produce, specialty crops, and floral products are among North America’s most actively traded commodities. A secure and sustainable food supply – domestic and worldwide – thrives with strong and reliable access to global markets.
• Targeted use of tariffs can be a tool for addressing challenges or inequities between trading partners. However, the broad application of tariffs can disrupt supply chains, threaten market expansion, increase costs for consumers, and place unnecessary strain on growers and producers.
• To improve the competitiveness of U.S. producers while keeping food affordable for consumers, IFPA advocates for swift and meaningful regulatory relief and reform as the most effective way to support agriculture and strengthen American food security. We look forward to working with the Trump administration to advance policies that empower growers, expand market access, and ensure a competitive, resilient agricultural sector that benefits producers and consumers.

IFPA hosted a Virtual Town Hall on Feb. 7 to discuss the developments around the tariffs issue.

Western Growers Weighs In

In response to the proposal of 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China, Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia issued the following statement: “Canada and Mexico are the first- and second-largest importers of U.S.-grown fresh produce while China, another significant fresh produce importer, is the No. 2 importer of American tree nuts. Imposition of tariffs with our key trading partners in this manner and at these levels will almost certainly result in retaliatory tariffs that harm American growers.

“While we appreciate the border security issues apparently motivating the Trump Administration, rival growers of specialty crops outside of the U.S. will move quickly to seize the new business opportunities created by these tariffs to sell into the Canadian, Mexican and Chinese marketplaces. Their success in doing so could permanently displace American growers from these key markets. This is the same pattern that emerged during the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods during the first Trump Administration.

“We urge the Trump Administration to use these tariffs in a strategic manner with an eye towards swift removal. Although we hope any trade tension will be short in duration, we ask the Trump Administration to quickly implement mitigation programs to offset the revenue that will be lost due to these actions. At minimum, this approach should replicate the Market Facilitation Program implemented during the first Trump Administration following the imposition of tariffs on China.”

American Farm Bureau POV

In a recently published blog post, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall writes: “Of course, Farm Bureau supports the goals of security and ensuring fair trade, and we’re hopeful President Trump can limit trade disruptions and open new markets for agriculture. We have seen very few new trade deals in the last decade, and U.S. agriculture is now seeing a trade deficit of $32 billion. That’s in stark contrast to our historical agricultural trade surplus, averaging $12.5 billion over the past ten years. Boosting agricultural trade also has proven to be good for our overall economy. Historically, every $1 of U.S. agricultural exports results in over $2 in additional domestic economic activity. The importance of trade is a point I’ll make when I testify before the Senate Agriculture Committee as the whirlwind continues.”

This is a developing story. Stay tuned as more updates come in.

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