Two South Dakota agriculture organizations are watching potential upcoming tariffs closely.
President-elect Donald Trump is vowing tariffs on goods imported into the country.
Both groups remember Trump’s trade war during his first administration.
On Monday, Trump vowed 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada—as well as additional 10 percent tariff on products from China—unless the countries control the flood of illegal drugs into the US.
Speaking with SDPB’s In The Moment before Trump’s new tariff announcement, Scott VanderWal with the South Dakota Farm Bureau said the talk of tariffs makes members of his group a little bit nervous.
“Because we feel there are other ways to negotiate. President Trump is going to do things the way he feels he should. He received quite a majority in the vote to put him back in that office, so he’s going to do things his way," VanderWal said. "When that tariff hammer is there, that’s something you can threaten as you negotiate. We kind of wish he’d wait just a little bit before he goes into negotiations with it, but like I said that’s how he handles things.”
Tariffs aside, VanderWal said a Trump administration will be better for agriculture overall—by reducing regulations, overhead and red tape on industry.
Doug Sombke is with South Dakota Farmers Union, which worries about permanent damage to markets for the state’s top commodities.
He said US soybeans lost a big market with China during the first Trump administration.
“If that one’s ever going to come back it’s going to take a pretty big switch because the likes of South America have really taken that over. China has invested heavily down there in their infrastructure and ports," Sombke said. "Us getting that market back is going to be a real stretch.”
President Trump supports the use of tariffs against US trading partners he views as taking advantage of the country.
Most economists say US consumers will ultimately bear the cost of tariffs.
