Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller said farmers may have “a little rough spell” under President Trump's new tariff policy with China, but demographics must be “great” in the long run.
“Donald Trump told me he loves his family farmers. 95% of US farming is done by family farmers. He's not going to let them go out of business. He knows they are essential to our national security, our economy,” Miller told News Nation's “The Hill” in a Monday appearance.
“Absolutely, we have to keep those farmers in business. If we run into a bit of a rough spell, it's fine. We'll make up for it when we collect these tariffs. It's more than paying back the Treasury for that money that went out to the farmers,” he added.
President Trump has added a new 10% tariff on imports from China, continuing the pattern of what the country's leader described as a “terrifying mail.”
China has pledged to have hit American farmers with a 15% tariff on imports of chicken, wheat, corn and cotton from the United States and a 10% tariff on imports of sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
Texas leads the country Number of farms and ranches230,662 cover 125.5 million acres and produce billions of agricultural products each year.
“We've experienced this before. The first Trump administration, we had a tariff war with China. We were always in a tariff war, but we didn't fight back until Donald Trump came. He put tariffs on and we felt a bit of pain, Donald Trump used the Commodity Credit Corporation to help farmers until we could regain our profits,” Miller told Anchor Blake Berman.
“It happened. In the end, the farmers made more money than they'd ever made. The product prices were good. It was all because of the tariffs Trump put on them. It's going to be the same this time,” he continued.
However, this time, drastic measures against China, the designated foreign enemy, come in additional tariff proposals in Canada and Mexico.
Economists warn of possible inflation and potential recessions as the president's new policies begin to take effect. Despite concerns and stock markets plunging, Trump claims the country will benefit from rewiring global trade.
“What we're doing is so big, so there's a period of transition. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big deal. And Trump always takes time when he appears on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump said.
“It's going to take a little while, but I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great,” he added.
