American Farm Bureau: Trump's Dairy Tariff Will Boost Farmers
First President Trump took on Canadian lumber, imposing a 20% tax on lumber imports from America’s northern neighbor. Now it’s dairy with Trump planning a similar tariff on Canadian dairy products. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says Trump is taking an important step to support American dairy farmers.
“We have a president now that’s looking after the interests of our farmers and ranchers,” Duvall told the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney, arguing that the tariff was in no way a political payoff to voters in Wisconsin and upstate New York who voted for Trump. “I totally reject that," Duvall said. "The rural America is just as much an important part of America and the society as urban America and we need the same attention that everybody else does.”
Though Duvall reiterated Trump’s positive sentiment about Canada, he pointed out that the goal is a fair trade relationship.
“I would echo his words, we very much appreciate our neighbors to the north but we’re looking for fair trade.”
When Varney asked if Duvall viewed the tariffs as an opening bargaining position by Trump, Duvall responded, “I think it is, I think it’s getting everybody’s attention that we want to come to the table and have those very difficult discussions about all of our trade.”
Duvall said Trump’s efforts will begin the process of breaking down barriers to American farmers staying competitive globally. “This is just one example of how barriers pop up in front our commodities and prevent us from doing business in the rest of the world.”