Trump Threatens More Rural Destruction with China Tariffs

Donald Trump is tired of coronavirus damaging rural America. He wants to get back doing that damage himself:

“Tariff Man”said Thursday, “we signed a trade deal where they’re supposed to buy, and they’ve been buying a lot, actually. But that now becomes secondary to what took place with the virus . . . the virus situation is just not acceptable.” He threatened… a new batch of tariffs on Chinese goods.

The market reaction:  Nosedive-city, which occurred across the board for stocks and farm commodities – specifically wheat, soybeans and corn, which dominate the farming industry in South Dakota.

You’d think Trump and his supporters would realize there’s no future in tariff wars with China. But apparently the President’s fixation on blaming China for a pandemic that got out of hand in the United States because of Trump’s refusal to take it seriously from the start is how the President expects to shift blame away from his tragic ineptitude [John Tsitrian, “Uh-oh. Brace Yourselves, South Dakota Farmers. Trump Is Mad at China Again—and Threatening a New Round of Tariffs,” South Dakota Standard, 2020.05.02].

South Dakota Farmers Union boss Doug Sombke said on 60 Minutes last night that tariffs have cost his farm $125K to $200K per year during the Trump Administration. Normal policymakers would look at those results and consider alternatives. Trump looks at those results like a sexual sadist and says he wants more, more, more!

Americans are still paying Trump taxes on overseas purchases, making it even harder for U.S. manufacturers to weather the pandemic. Raising tariffs will only make life harder for producers of all kinds, industrial and agricultural. But Trump will not be upstaged by anyone, including a lowly virus, when it comes to decimating rural economies.