The ongoing trade war is taking a toll on some Michigan farms and families.
In the last several months, President Donald Trump has increased tariffs on imported goods. In response, countries like China and Mexico have increased their tariffs.
One of the goods the United States exports is dairy products.
Shelli Adamczyk spoke with farmers and shows us how one of Michigan’s top industries could be affected.
Amy Martin operates Gingrich Meadows Dairy in Osceola County. Her nearly 500 cows produce milk that is shipped within the U.S. and internationally.
“Agriculture as a whole is really huge for the entire Michigan economy,” Martin said. “We are unfairly tariffed with products going out and in, in any industry.”
Those tariffs include countries like Mexico and China, which Martin says is making it difficult to pay the bills.
“I think this month we probably lost about $25,000 or $30,000 just for this month, the month of July,” she said.
Experts say Mexico is dairy’s biggest trading partner, and this trade war came at the worst time for dairy producers.
“We’ve already gone through three years of severely depressed margins on dairy farms, and now we’re going into our fourth year, and now it’s just an added effect,” dairy farmer Ken Nobis said. “If it were just a one-year effect, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad, but we’ve just been through three years where you were lucky if you broke even.”
While dairy farmers are taking a hit, experts don’t expect this to affect the price of milk for consumers.
The tariffs increase the price of milk exported to those counties, which means the price for milk could even go down in stores, because there’s more product remaining in the U.S.
“With the addition of the tariffs, it has made us noncompetitive with foreign competitors,” Nobis said.
Some farmers have already been unable to keep going.
“We’ve already lost quite a few,” Nobis said. “If this tariff issue goes on any longer, I think we’re going to lose a lot more.”
The Department of Agriculture has recently announced that starting next month, a $12 billion subsidy plan will be available for farmers who have been impacted by the trade war.
Source: wndu.com
