U.S. farmers warn Trump’s trade war will hurt both sides of border

U.S. President Donald Trump continues to claim that his country does not need Canada, its resources or its trade.

But, according to farmers in the United States, that’s not the case.

Many experts believe Donald Trump is targeting Canada’s dairy industry because of the country’s supply management system.

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The system is a national agricultural policy framework that controls the supply of dairy, poultry, and eggs through production and import mechanisms to ensure prices for supply-managed farmers are stable and predictable.

Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, said that while Canada’s system can cause trade issues, it’s not directly Canada’s fault.

“When it comes to dairy, Canada has its supply management system, which works really well for them. When I worked at Wisconsin Farmers Union, we were pushing to get a system similar to that because we felt like it protected dairy farmers. Instead of putting a glut of dairy out on the market and driving the price down and all that, Canada’s system, we felt like, was set up a lot better than what we have here in the U.S. as far as quotas and that kind of thing,” Levendofsky said.

“So if that’s what he’s referring to, well, there’s not a whole lot we can do about that without changing our own dairy policy here in the U.S. And, you know, the joke has always been: there are five guys who know dairy policy in the U.S., and they’re all dead,” he added.

On the trade war as a whole, Levendofsky said farmers will see the worst of its effects.

“The steel and aluminum tariffs, especially, are what’s hitting farmers down on this side of the border, because steel and aluminum go into a lot of farm equipment. And when you purchase that piece of equipment, yes, you’ve got that initial cost, but then that tariff or that tax that goes on top of that is in addition to that. And up until now, it’s been at 25 per cent, so you’ve got to budget accordingly for that,” Levendofsky said.

“And farmers, they have to eat that cost. They don’t get to pass that cost on like other businesses or companies, corporations do when they purchase something. Farmers have to literally eat that and build that into their bottom line eventually,” he said.

Levendofsky said that this most recent trade war between Canada and the United States will hurt farmers no matter which side of the border they’re on.

“This isn’t good for farmers and ranchers. It’s not good for consumers. But on the issue of tariffs and the trade war, I just wish he’d listen and maybe not post as much on Truth Social and, you know, make these comments that cause fluctuations in the markets and all of that,” he said.