The organization requested a meeting with the President on Mar. 12
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
America’s national soybean group is waiting to hear whether its representatives will be granted a meeting with President Trump.
The American Soybean Association (ASA) wrote a letter on Mar. 12 asking to meet with the President. Representatives want to discuss how new tariffs on aluminum and steel imports could impact the soybean industry.
But Washington hasn’t provided any response to the organization.
“We haven’t heard anything from the White House and who knows if we will,” ASA president John Heisdorffer told Farms.com today. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The biggest discussion point surrounding the aluminum and steel tariffs is how they will impact farmers if China, America's largest soybean customer, imports its own retaliatory tariffs.
China has indicated it could place tariffs on soybeans as a retaliatory measure.
Should the ASA be granted a meeting with the President, the organization would highlight the economic benefits of the soybean trade with China.
“One out every three rows of soybeans grown in the United States ends up in China,” Heisdorffer said. “China imported $14 billion worth of soy products last year, and soybeans are the largest trading mechanism between the two countries.
“We’re in a high-risk business. The farm economy has been down the past three years and we’re expecting it to drop another 7 percent this year. If China decides to put tariffs on soybeans or to reduce its U.S. soybean imports by even 10 percent and get those beans from South America, it’ll be a big loss.”
Another issue with the tariffs on aluminum and steel is their potential impact on U.S. farmers’ production costs.
Those two metals are prevalent on every farm and manufacturers can pass those extra costs down to farmers. But farmers can’t do the same to the customer.
“Farmers get hit twice with these tariffs,” Heisdorffer said. “Between grain bins and all the machinery visible on a farm, there’s steel and aluminum everywhere. If the cost of steel goes up, the cost of machinery goes up.”
It also appears as if farmers are losing patience with the President.
Political analysts have pointed to rural America as a key to helping Trump win the election in Nov. 2016.
Since he took office, however, some of his actions have hurt farmers including pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, threatening to leave NAFTA and reducing USDA budget spending.
“Farmers aren’t ready to change the way they vote, but there’s a level of concern among the ag community,” Heisdorffer said, adding that Trump’s tax reform plan and commitment to helping producers access broadband have been good items for farmers.