Amid Trump tariff uncertainty, Shapiro tells farmers ‘we have their backs’

by Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Warning new tariffs threaten an “economic calamity,” Gov. Josh Shapiro pledged to protect Pennsylvania farmers, who were hit hard during President Donald Trump’s first term when U.S. trading partners placed retaliatory duties on agricultural exports.

Shapiro highlighted his administration’s investments in agriculture as part of a statewide economic development plan in remarks to members of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Farms and associated businesses employ 600,000 people and contribute $132 billion to the commonwealth’s economy each year, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding noted before the speech.

While the state Department of Agriculture has helped farmers weather highly contagious avian influenza that decimated chicken flocks and threatened dairy herds, the Trump administration’s tariffs have brought greater uncertainty and peril, Shapiro said.

“I’m not sure why the Trump administration is looking to screw over our farmers,” Shapiro told reporters after his speech. “We have their backs, and we’re going to protect them.”

The tariffs make it more expensive for U.S. businesses to import products and materials from other countries. They’re based on the difference between the value of goods exported to and imported from another country and range from 10% to 104% on Chinese imports as officials there vowed to “fight to the end.”

“For all of the talk about bringing companies and industries back to the United States, our farmers are already here,” Shapiro said. “They’re already doing business in this commonwealth and in this country, and I believe they are being unnecessarily hurt by these trade wars.”

As other countries consider and impose reciprocal tariffs, Pennsylvania farm products become more expensive for buyers abroad, eroding hard-won markets and decreasing sales, Shapiro said.

“Understand, this is not theoretical and this is not some political statement. This is the reality, and you’ve already lived through it,” Shapiro said, recalling that in 2018 Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel prompted retaliatory duties on U.S. agricultural exports causing lost income for farmers.

“The first Trump administration was forced to make $27 billion in payments for lost income to farmers in Pennsylvania and all across the United States,” Shapiro said “All of the tariffs that were raised back then went to paying farmers for lost market share.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that Pennsylvania agricultural exports decreased by about $66 million in 2018 and 2019.

And such losses are not easily recouped, Shapiro said, noting that Pennsylvania is the top exporter of hardwood products. But since 2017, U.S. production of hardwood lumber decreased 50% as a result of turmoil created by retaliatory tariffs, he said.

“That means fewer jobs in the hardwood industry here at home in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.

Pennsylvania’s dairy industry could also be affected by retaliatory tariffs by Mexico, where commonwealth  farmers sell $170 million in dairy products each year.

Shapiro also addressed a planned $25 million reduction in funding for the state’s bird flu recovery fund. It’s reimbursed farmers $13 million for the cost of responding to outbreaks, leaving $61 million in reserve, which he said is “more than enough to meet the needs of our poultry farmers and see them through this crisis.”

“Should we need more, you have my word, I will be there to make sure our poultry farmers have what they need to get back up on their feet again,” Shapiro said.