Last week, U.S. representatives reignited trade negotiations with China for the first, in-person talk since the G-20 truce. Three months ago, it was thought that the U.S. had worked out a trade deal with China, but China?s President Xi chose to renegotiate, just short of the autographs. Though U.S. representatives landed in China last week with the hope of picking up where they had left off, the meetings ended with the U.S. placing an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods, starting September 1st.
U.S. Representative Cindy Axne, a member of the House Agriculture Committee rang in on the additional tariffs as they relate to Iowa.
?Agriculture is the backbone of Iowa?s economy. As one of our biggest trading partners, I cannot overstate how devastating this will be to family farmers, Iowans, and our economy. This is a direct hit to U.S. agriculture and will further exacerbate the financial challenges farmers are facing due to dropping commodity prices and severe flooding. I strongly urge the President to consider the impact on Iowa farmers and families who are paying the price for these tariffs, and resume negotiations with China,? said Axne.
Additionally, Representative Axne called on the Treasury Department shortly after the President announced his intention to impose new tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. Axne requested the Department conduct research to establish numbers for the estimated economic impact these tariffs will have on American families.
President Trump also commented on the recent negotiations and his reasoning for the additional tariffs.
?We thought we had a deal with China three months ago, but sadly, China decided to re-negotiate the deal prior to signing. More recently, China agreed to buy agricultural products from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so. Additionally, my friend President Xi said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States — this never happened..,? said the President.
According to the White House, trade negotiations will proceed in early September.
