The Surprising Impact of Trump’s Tariffs On American Farmers [Video]

American farmers are once again caught in the crossfire of Trump’s trade wars. Despite a 90-day tariff truce with China, they continue to face rising export costs for soybeans, corn and pork, along with effects from earlier retaliatory tariffs and export restrictions.

The numbers tell a stark story. U.S. soybean exports to China experienced a significant decline during the height of trade tensions. According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), from mid-2018 to the end of 2019, retaliatory tariffs imposed by six major trading partners—Canada, China, Turkey, Mexico, the EU, and India—resulted in estimated losses of over $27 billion in U.S. agricultural exports. Soybeans alone accounted for more than 70 percent of those losses.

The financial strain has left many farmers relying on taxpayer-funded bailouts. “Input costs for farmers remain a challenging factor, further compounded by ongoing uncertainty in markets,” Evan Hultine, Vice President of Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB), told Newsweek. “It’s hard enough to market in …