American farmers say U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian goods are having a “devastating effect” on the local agriculture sector south of the border.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs for dozens of countries. Canada and Mexico were notably spared in this round, but previous 25 per cent tariffs on some Canadian products will remain.
Some U.S. farmers say the tariffs are already making it harder for producers in their country, already long accustomed to hardship, to make a living.
“Most farmers are pretty used to adversary things and situations like this,” Doug Sombke, president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, said. “But I think many of them were actually struck and shocked.”
The tariffs are having a “devastating effect on both ends” for producers in the state, who will likely see the price they’re paid for their product go down amid tariffs and counter-tariffs, even as the cost of fertilizer and equipment rises, said Sombke.
There were already drops in market prices after Trump announced the latest tariffs this week, he noted.
“This was just a horrible idea,” he said.” Whoever thought that tariffs were good for the country, they really don’t understand civics and/or economics very well.”
Sombke said 90 per cent of the state’s potash — which is used as a fertilizer and is currently being tariffed at 10 per cent — comes from Canada, while much of its farming equipment carries a “made in Canada” stamp.
North Dakota Farmers Union vice-president Bob Kuylen also said he’s “very frustrated” with the tariffs, warning they could be detrimental to the future of agriculture in Manitoba’s neighbouring state.
The 25 per cent steel tariffs could make purchases of necessary farm equipment much more expensive, he told host Marcy Markusa in a Friday interview with CBC’s Information Radio.
For example, he says Canada makes good-quality no-till drills — specialized equipment that plants seeds without disturbing the soil — but their $1-million price tag would cost a U.S. farmer $250,000 more with the tariff.
“That’s a heck of a hit,” he said.
North of the border, Canadian agriculture economists worry that the U.S. tariffs have already done irreparable damage to the economies of both countries.
Ryan Cardwell, a professor with the University of Manitoba’s department of agribusiness and agricultural economics, says a “time machine” might be the only way to fix it.
“The degree of uncertainty that has been created by the last few months of policy change in the United States, I think has done permanent damage,” he said.
“It’s all very troubling and creates a lot of uncertainty and barriers to trade that have not existed for a very long time between Canada and the U.S.”
He said Trump’s “chaotic trade policy” has shaken predictability for investors, which will inevitably slow economic growth in Canada, the U.S. and almost all countries that trade with the two.
“People, investors, farmers, producers now have less certainty. They are less willing to undertake the kind of investment that generates economic growth,” he said.
It’s still possible that Trump could reverse the tariffs yet again, but Cardwell worries it might be too late.
“Even if these tariffs disappear tomorrow, that uncertainty still exists,” he said. “I don’t see a way to turn that around.”
In North Dakota, where Trump took nearly 68 per cent of the vote in November’s election, Kuylen said it feels as if the president is “fighting with food all the time.”
“We should be eating well instead of fighting with our food, with all of our friends and neighbours to the north and the south of us.”
Sombke says he’s disappointed to see Trump — who was backed by 63 per cent of voters in South Dakota — turn close trading allies into adversaries.
Instead, he wants to see farmers “visit with your neighbours” across international borders.
“What we need to do is find ways to work together to help each other, as a world market, rather than go through these tit-for-tat types of situations that are never helpful for anyone.”
“We’ve become such enemies just because of this one man.”
