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Springfield, IL — As Donald Trump doubles down on retaliatory tariffs and the freezing of USAID programs, the Democratic Party of Illinois released the following statement:
“Donald Trump’s tariffs tirade and USAID funding cuts have already hurt local farmers, led to layoffs in Illinois and continue to spread fear and uncertainty as trade wars cut into the livelihoods of hard-working Illinoisans. While MAGA focuses on ‘efficiency’ and ‘cost-cutting,’ family farmers who have worked their land for years will be left behind while Trump focuses on his ultra-rich buddies.”
Trump isn’t going to make oligarchs pay for his tariff taxes–family farms and hard-working Illinoisans will.
Fallout of retaliatory tariffs and USAID cuts:
Axios Chicago: Industry leaders say Illinois farmers cannot afford the uncertainty of a trade war
- Chinese tariffs on farm machinery could hurt sales for American companies including Caterpillar… [which] has 12,000 employees in Peoria.
- USAID’s purchases of U.S. crops for foreign aid — which totaled $2 billion last year — have already stopped under President Trump’s executive order, according to Reuters.
- “Our farmers simply cannot afford the uncertainty of a potential trade war,” IFB president Brian Duncan said in a statement.
Illinois Public Media: Trump’s tariffs raise alarms for Illinois farm industry
- Tariffs announced by President Donald Trump and the possibility of a trade war have raised alarms for agriculture industries in Illinois and across the U.S.
- The state is the nation’s second-leading exporter of both soybeans and feed grains and related products, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture. About 44% of grain produced in Illinois is sold for export.
- Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C., said earlier this month: “Tariffs and tariff retaliation often hit farmers and ranchers hard, which make it more difficult for them to pay their bills and grow the food America’s families rely on.”
- Between 2018 and 2019, tariffs resulted in approximately $27 billion in lost exports for U.S. agricultural producers, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. Soy and pork producers suffered the most significant economic damage.
- In addition to crops, agricultural inputs and equipment are affected by tariffs. More than 80% of the United States’ supply of potash — a key fertilizer ingredient — comes from Canada. “Tariffs that increase fertilizer prices threaten to deliver another blow to the finances of farm families already grappling with inflation and high supply costs,” Duvall said.
Chicago Tribune: Trump’s order stopping aid and development programs has had a real and possibly lasting effect in Illinois.
- If the Trump administration ends up doing away with the funding altogether, it would have a long-term impact not just on the [U. of I. soybean] lab’s employees and its work in Africa and elsewhere across the globe, but also on the soybean economy in Illinois, the top U.S. producer of the crop and home to industry giant Archer Daniels Midland Co.
- “The market for soy is only growing globally,” Goldsmith said. “So as markets grow, it becomes more profitable for U.S. farmers, Illinois farmers to produce soy. … When markets grow, they win the most, and holding back Africa, not allowing it to become a soy continent, would be devastating for global soybean markets.”
- Much of Illinois’ soybean crop is grown in heavily Republican downstate counties. Nationally, GOP lawmakers have started to push for renewed shipments of direct food assistance after USAID’s inspector general released a report revealing $489 million worth of American-produced food is sitting at ports, in warehouses and on ships and is at risk of spoiling or otherwise not reaching its intended destination.
