ICYMI: “We feel like we’re a bargaining chip” – As Farmers Urge Caution, Kevin Cramer is excited for trade war

North Dakota Farmers and Ranchers Express Concern After President’s Trade War Announcement, Chinese Retaliations

(BISMARCK, ND) — In an unprecedented lack of understanding of agriculture – even for someone who has never served on the House agriculture committee – Kevin Cramer said there was a lot of “excitement” around the president’s trade announcement.

North Dakota farmers and ranchers aren’t excited about a trade war – they’re downright concerned. But this isn’t the first time Cramer has spoken down to our ag producers – he has repeatedly referred to their trade war concerns as “hysteria.”

Read more from WDAY about why North Dakota farmers and ranchers are concerned about this potentially escalating trade war – especially soybean producers, who are vital to North Dakota’s agricultural economy.

WDAY: ‘We feel like we’re a bargaining chip’: N.D. soybean farmers fear trade war after Trump announces tariffs

  • If a trade war breaks out between the U.S. and China, North Dakota soybean farmers could take big losses.

  • Seventy-one percent of North Dakota’s soybeans are exported to Asia, most of them going to China, which brought $1.5 billion in revenue back to the state.

  • Soybean exports to China could drop by as much as 65 percent if China imposes a retaliatory 25 percent tariff on soy, according to a study cited by the American Soybean Association.

  • Austin Langley, a 26-year-old soybean farmer in Warwick, N.D., about 20 miles south of Devils Lake, says that would be disastrous for his fortunes.

  • In Rolette, N.D., Ryan Pederson was digesting the news while trying to determine how much damage hail had done to his soybeans overnight.

  • “There is no doubt that it will affect our bottom line,” if there is a trade war, he said. “North Dakota is a producing state, not a consuming state, so we need free trade.”

  • Nancy Johnson, executive director of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association, […] said her group agrees that the Chinese haven’t played fairly on trade, “but right now we feel like we’re a bargaining chip” in the negotiations.