Trump shocks Americans with tariffs on United States’ internal goods
Next on Donald Trump’s agenda: more tariffs.
The Trump administration fulfilled its threats to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, imposing a 25% tax all imports from the United States’ two biggest trading partners. The move caused immediate chaos in America’s financial markets, with Wall Street stock plummeting as Canada, Mexico and China imposed retaliatory tariffs of their own.
According to the United States Senate Committee on Budget – a nonpartisan agency that studies economic policy – Donald Trump’s tariff plan is likely to cause inflation and shrink the U.S. economy. Corporate executives concur, with Charles van der Steen – president of shipping giant Maersk – saying that the tariffs will “clearly” cause an increase in goods prices at an interview held during a logistics industry convention in California.
While economists and corporate executives have expressed their misgivings, Trump recently promised to up the ante on tariffs in a recent Truth Social post telling farmers to prepare for a new tax on American exports. “To the Great Farmers of the United States: get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold inside the United States” Trump wrote to on Truth Social. “Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!”
According to the internet, the new will force be anything but “fun” for American farmers.
Political action committee, The Lincoln Project, responded with sarcasm, telling Americans to “have fun paying more for your food.” According to a report by CBS, the cost of a wide variety of food will increase as Trump’s tariff begin to take effect, including fruits and vegetables as well as beef and alcohol products.
Despite Trump’s bid to localize food production within its borders, The United States has historically imported large swathes of agricultural products from Canada and Mexico. In 2023, the United States imported over $40 billion worth of food from Mexico alone, the large majority of which was fruits, vegetables, and spirits. That same year, the United States spent a roughly equal amount on Canadian food imports. Trump attempts to phase out imports from these two countries, American farmers may struggle to keep up with the rising demand for food.
As Trump’s tariffs begin to take hold, American farmers have been begun to fear for their wellbeing – including some that voted for him. According to Iowa farmer Suzanne Shirbroun, Trump’s ever-shifting economic plans have created an uncomfortable amount of uncertainty in America’s agricultural industry. “It’s all a toss-up right now. And that’s what is unsettling here on the farm,” Shirbroun said speaking of the effects of Trump’s tariffs on her crops. “We don’t know where we’re going to be as far as our soybean and corn markets.” Shirbroun also stresses that many American farmers depend upon doing business internationally, and Trump’s economic policies could jeopardize their bottom line. “Our goal is to make Iowa and U.S. soybean farms profitable,” Shirbourn explained, “and to do that, we need these international markets.”
Trump’s tariff policy isn’t the only thing that has stoked farmers’ anxiety. The mass deportation of immigrants currently being orchestrated by the Trump administration is likely to have a catastrophic effect on the agricultural industry – which depends upon migrant labor to function. According to the USDA, immigrants make up roughly two thirds of the United States’ agricultural force, and an estimated 42% of these workers are undocumented. Should these workers be deported from the United States, food prices could skyrocket even higher as the agricultural industry struggles with a sudden drop in labor force.
Donald Trump’s “fun” comes at a price, one America can’t afford.
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