http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/farmer-soybean-harvest-wi-s470.pngSoybeans, Beef “...the damage from past trade disruptions will take time to repair. Rebuilding trust and re-establishing consistent export channels will not happen overnight.” - Doug Rebout, Wisconsin Soybean Association

MADISON, Wis. — After months of uncertainty and plummeting soybean prices, this week Trump tried to save face by cutting a purchasing deal with China that falls below the quota that they were buying before the tariff war began. China agreed to buy 25 million metric tons annually over the next three years—in the last five years, China purchased an average of 28 million metric tons annually.

In Wisconsin, many farmers already being squeezed by higher operating costs due to tariffs increasing labor, fertilizer, fuel and equipment costs have already had to sell their products at low prices or are even stuck paying for commercial storage to wait for higher prices. Now, they have to stomach that the costly trade war the GOP is dragging them through will not get them a better, or even the same, deal they had before.

“Tom Tiffany is using Wisconsin farmers as a bargaining chip in a no-win trade war,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Emily Stuckey. “Farmers see these tariffs and bailouts for what they are—an insult to the generations of hard work that turned Wisconsin into an agriculture powerhouse and an ever-growing threat to America’s continued dominance in global markets.”

Wisconsin farmers are still struggling to compete with Brazil and Argentina in a market unfavorable to American crops. A statement from the Wisconsin Soybean Association says “the damage from past trade disruptions will take time to repair. Rebuilding trust and re-establishing consistent export channels will not happen overnight.” This comes after leaked texts confirmed Tom Tiffany and Donald Trump’s $20 billion Argentina bailout enabled China and Argentina to strike a trade deal, leaving the U.S. with no trade leverage with China and Wisconsin soybean farmers cut out of their largest market. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Trump and Tiffany supported yet another bailout in the form of importing Argentinian beef, leaving struggling Wisconsin ranchers with a diluted market.