by: Andrew Epperson
Posted: Mar 21, 2025 / 08:53 PM CDT
ERWINVILLE, La. (Louisiana First) — Economists say America is in a new trade war with countries like China, Canada and Mexico. Tariffs and retaliatory tariffs play a big part in that, and Louisiana farmers could be impacted.
Donald Schexnayder and his brothers have been farmers in Erwinville for more than 40 years. They grow a variety of crops, including soy, corn, and wheat. Factors like weather and market fluctuations can make farming less predictable than other industries.
“If it’s good, dry, in the field you’ve got field work to do,” Schexnayder said. “If it’s not, you’ve got shop work to do.”
According to a fact sheet from the White House, the United States has a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 35% on those from China. Those countries responded with their own.
“Tariffs are basically taxes that are placed on foreign products,” said Raghav Goyal, an Assistant Professor for the LSU Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.
Goyal said placing tariffs can have a snowball effect.
“The U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese products, and that’s why China retaliated with tariffs on U.S. products,” Goyal said.
University of Arkansas economist Jeff Cooperstein said stated reasons for tariffs include protecting American industries from competition, fortifying culturally special products and raising revenue.
“The government collects taxes, so you try to raise taxes that way,” Cooperstein said.
In the long-term, economists are split on whether strategic tariffs and mitigated impacts from retaliatory tariffs could have a positive impact on equalizing trade and benefitting certain industries. In the short-term, they fear some industries could be negatively impacted. That includes farmers.
“Farmers are price takers on their inputs,” said Andy Brown, Commodity and Public Policy Director for Farm Bureau Louisiana. “Things like fertilizer from Canada or processed goods from China, those are going to cost more.”
The retaliatory tariffs could also have a negative impact.
“They’re going to have limits to how much they can sell their products internationally because of international tariffs,” Brown said.
Trade statistics indicate agriculture is one of Louisiana’s major exports. Soy is a huge part of that.
“We have over a million acres of soybeans in this state,” Brown said. “That’s a big target of China. They’re a big buyer. They buy over 60% of our soybeans in China alone.”
Goyal said that’s why China focused on soy when initial tariffs were enacted in 2018.
“China can easily buy soybeans from other countries, and that’s exactly what happened,” Goyal said.
Brown said several programs were put in place to help farmers during that time, and they accessed government funding to help them when prices were too low for their bottom lines. He said he wants better trade deals between countries, which would allow farmers to profit from the markets alone.
If that cannot happen, Brown said it’s important for farmers to have access to a safety net.
“Farmers want to farm, they want to sell their product, they want to do that in the free market,” Brown said.
Brown said farmers want to avoid using taxpayer money whenever possible, but it becomes a national security issue when farmers cannot access help to meet their bottom lines.
“We’re working with Congress to make sure those funds are plentiful and available, and we don’t want to see any tax dollars spent unless they’re needed,” Brown said. “So, we don’t want to pull the trigger on that now.”
Goyal said he is taking an optimistic look at the situation, and he believes platforms will be in place for farmers to navigate these tariffs.
“I believe the government has been proactive,” Goyal said. “It will make decisions to help farmers in our country and our state.”
Schexnayder said farmers are used to dealing with fluctuations in their crop prices.
“Times are good, times are bad sometimes,” Schexnayder said.
Schexnayder said he hopes Congress works on a farm bill to create a permanent safety net, and he wants people to understand most farms are family-ran and not corporate farms.
“We want to produce our crop, a good crop, and have a good market for it,” Schexnayder said.
Read the story: https://www.louisianafirstnews.com/news/new-trade-war-may-hurt-louisiana-farmers-with-higher-tariffs/#:~:text=ERWINVILLE%2C%20La.,Louisiana%20farmers%20could%20be%20impacted.
