American farmers produce excellent products. I live in Iowa and see farmers every day who are producing the foods we eat every day like corn, soybeans while raising cattle for beef. They also account for exports of corn to Mexico, Canada, China, and a bevy of other countries. A tariff war has real world impacts on Iowa farmers.
Our climate in Iowa is not optimal to grow certain produce. When you think of bananas, avocados, blueberries, cauliflower and tomatoes, most of them are imported from Canada, Mexico and other nations south of the border with better climates. There is not many olive groves in Iowa and Iowans use olive oil imported from Spain, Greece and Italy.
A trade war will hurt Iowa exports, because nations hit with tariffs will hit Iowa farmers with reciprocal tariffs. This has already happened and, according to the NY Post, American farmers are in crisis mode because of Chinese cancelled orders of soybeans and pork.
The trade war will impact the health of Americans in a negative way. One reason Americans eat so poorly is that the wrong sorts of foods are cheap, and the right sorts of foods are expensive.
This is clearly true in the meat aisle (cube steak vs. filet mignon), of course. But while we may not think much about it, it is also seen in every aisle of the supermarket. Heavily processed food in bags, cans or frozen packaging is always available cheaply. But fresh, unprocessed food is usually hidden, off in the corners of the store, tucked away. It is also more expensive than the soda and bags of chips at the front of the store.
President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., knows this is a problem. He wants Americans to eat better. That is an important goal. He knows that “highly chemically processed foods” are making us less healthy. Kennedy says these foods lead to obesity, diabetes and other deadly conditions.
He has the right goals in mind. “I will do everything in my power to put the health of Americans back on track,” he told senators earlier this year. However, the administration he serves in is making his job more difficult than it needs to be by driving up the cost of imported food.
Donald Trump imposed tariffs on every other country, then he removed some of those tariffs, and then he landed on a 10% tariff for everybody everywhere. That means a 10% tariff on all groceries the U.S. imports. Many of those imports are fresh food.
“Between 2007 and 2021, the percent of U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable availability supplied by imports grew from 50 to 60 percent for fresh fruit and from 20 to 38 percent for fresh vegetables,” the USDA wrote. “The import share increased by more than 20 percentage points during this period for 10 crops: asparagus, avocados, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, raspberries, snap beans, and tomatoes.”
Those products will now cost at least 10% more than they did six months ago. At the same time, domestically produced, heavily processed foods will remain cheap. It is no wonder that parents who don’t earn as much as they used to earn after years under the Biden regime are feeding their children processed food. They cannot afford to pay far more for fresh, healthy food.
President Trump won because he vowed to reduce prices at the supermarket. “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One,” he said in August. These days, the administration is asking for patience. “Prices are going to come down, but it’s going to take a little bit of time,” Vice President JD Vance said in January.
Well, when it comes to food, we can bring prices down right away, and we must, if we want people to eat better and be healthier. Tariffs have their uses when it comes to manufactured products and even inputs like steel. However, they are counterproductive when applied to fresh food. And by the way, they will also hurt American farmers who want to export food. If countries retaliate for our tariffs, it will be more difficult to export beef and grains, and other foods produced here in America.
The U.S. makes many millions of bags of chips and can do so all year long. But there are months when our great country cannot produce fresh fruit, because large sections of the country are frozen, or too hot, or too dry. However, we can import fresh food all year.
President Trump should carefully target his tariffs by removing the levies on imported fruits, grains, and vegetables. That will make it easier for all of us to eat better and may convince other nations to reduce trade barriers to Iowa farmer’s exported products.
Author: Steve Sherman
Steve Sherman (North Liberty) is a prolific author, popular radio commentator, and former Iowa House candidate. His articles on political and cultural commentary have appeared nationally in both print and online. All his novels can be found on Amazon or at www.scsherman.com.
