Farmers Who Voted For Trump Now Worry Trade War Could Crush Them

American farmers helped put Donald Trump in the White House.  Now, they are fearing the worst as the escalating trade war with China threatens the markets for corn, soybeans and other staple crops. The Washington Post reports that soybeans are a $2 billion business in the state of Minnesota alone. As such, China’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on the cash crop has many farmers worried for their livelihoods.

• “A 40-cent drop in soybeans, like we saw on Wednesday, meant $50,000 of value evaporating out of my bottom line,” said Mike Petefish, president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.
• “The last time I talked to our banker, he told me that of all his clients — these are all farmers — only four made money last year. We kind of broke even. But this year was looking tough even before the tariffs.” Pork is also a large industry in Minnesota; China’s tariffs on American pork products is expected to hit that market hard as well.

The trade-war issue has posed yet another challenge for Republicans in the Upper Midwest hoping to keep their majority in the Midterm Elections. According to a Washington Post analysis:

• “Soybean-producing counties went for Trump by a margin of more than 12 percent.” But as fears of Chinese tariffs grow stronger, these voters become more and more disillusioned with Trump and his approach.
• This puts many Republicans in a sticky situation since they want to appeal to their base by siding with Trump and acknowledge the economic difficulties that face these farmers.

Democrats are using the tariffs to attack Trump on jobs.