It looks as if some of our nation’s farmers have finally had enough of President Trump. His tariffs are taking a devastating toll on them and his lies are becoming increasingly ridiculous. He has said since the beginning that we Americans won’t be affected by the tariffs because China will pay them (and he said Mexico will pay for his wall although he is now diverting money away from disaster management and the military to pay for his wall, but I digress). Although farming has always been difficult, especially for small farms, many farmers are struggling more than ever and farm bankruptcies are skyrocketing, especially in the Midwest, according to the American Farm Bureau. China is not buying our agricultural products in retaliation against Trump’s tariffs and instead is buying from other countries such as Brazil and Canada. The National Association of Wheat Growers said China is our fourth-largest buyer in the world but the tariffs have put this in jeopardy. Washington farms are also feeling the pressure from the tariffs. China is Washington’s No. 1 export market for sweet cherries and No. 2 for hay. Dairy products and apples are also among our top 10 exports to China. The Trump administration has attempted to aid farmers by giving them more subsidies. According to America’s Farm Report, the 2018 farm bill will provide subsidies of approximately $6 billion a year (with large, industrialized farms receiving the most benefits). But wait! Trump has said from the beginning that the tariffs won’t hurt Americans — Americans won’t pay the tariffs — so why is he giving subsidies to farms to help mitigate the effect of the tariffs? Trump also said just last month that he was going to delay more tariffs until Dec. 15th because he doesn’t want to hurt the Christmas shopping season. That makes no sense since he insists we aren’t being affected by the tariffs!
Trump said to Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes that he labels news as “fake news” in order to demean and discredit reporters so the public won’t believe the negative stories they write about him. As he continues to put tariffs on more and more consumer goods, however, and as China retaliates, increasing numbers of Americans are going to end up paying more for goods and will understand that Trump is lying when he says Americans won’t be affected by the tariffs. Trump has said he is the best thing to ever happen to farmers but in numerous interviews I have seen and read, many farmers do not agree and say they will not be voting for Trump again.
I imagine most of us would not tolerate our children and spouses lying to us multiple times each day, so why are so many people willing to tolerate this behavior from our President? He is the one who is generating the fake news. We all need to take this seriously and make sure he doesn’t get re-elected.
Susan Miller
Onalaska
