11 months ago
15
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Wednesday was a time of mixed emotions for farmers successful and astir the Central Valley, aft President Donald Trump's latest moves connected tariffs.
While Trump paused accrued tariffs connected astir of the nation's trading partners for 90 days, helium besides raised tariffs connected China to 125%, arsenic leaders successful Beijing hiked tariffs connected imports from the U.S. to 84%.
"When it comes to California agriculture, astir 40% of what we nutrient oregon the 40% of the worth is really exports," said Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.
That means bully quality for commercialized with astir partners, quality that provided a flimsy suspiration of relief, particularly successful Fresno County - a region Jacobsen says shipped products to 90 countries unsocial based connected information from 2023.
"There's a small much certainty erstwhile it comes to a large bulk of our trading partners. Simply, that we're not looking astatine the increases oregon the escalations betwixt countries and hopefully thing works retired for the positive," said Jacobsen.
However, China remains 1 of California's largest cultivation partners, ranked 3rd down Canada and the E.U.
The latest information shows that China imports astir $1.8 cardinal successful California's agriculture each year.
"Tariffs, you know, stifle commercialized and 85% of our almonds spell overseas. You know, we export billions of dollars of products retired of the cardinal vale present into planetary markets," said husbandman Paul Betancourt, proprietor of VF&B Farms.
"Almond prices, finally, aft 3 years, are starting to travel backmost up and I'm starting to get a small spot of breathing country here. And if we lockdown into a full-on commercialized war, those prices would vessel again," helium said.
Still, Betancourt says helium is 'cautiously optimistic' Trump's strategy volition bring satellite leaders to the negotiating array and make amended trading leverage for U.S. farmers and producers.
"We're competing against planetary competitors who wage their assistance cheaper. They person little regulatory burdens. We tin vie against that due to the fact that of the prime we nutrient and the productivity we achieve," Betancourt told me. "But we can't have, you know, some the fiscal and the phytosanitary standards stacked against us."
But still, helium hopes the tariffs are called disconnected arsenic soon arsenic possible, and that the commercialized warfare doesn't escalate further.
Only clip volition tell.
