BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — North Dakota farmers are in the heart of the harvest, and combines will soon be rolling through North Dakota’s soybean fields. Many farmers throughout the state have remained hopeful for a trade deal between the U.S. and China. However, as the harvest looms, there are several areas of concern.
President Donald Trump announced an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods on October 10 via his Truth Social. The tariff hike, which President Trump says will go into effect on November 1, comes in response to new Chinese regulations on rare earth minerals, a move President Trump highly criticized. The President has since implied he may cancel a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping scheduled for the end of the month in South Korea.
This escalation follows the finalization of an aid package to Argentina. The $20 billion package was criticized by lawmakers from both parties, particularly after Argentina engaged in a soybean sale to China. China has carried out a months-long boycott of U.S. soybeans.
North Dakota congresswoman Julie Fedorchak was critical of the move by Argentina. “Argentina making a deal with China at the same time the U.S. provided financial assistance to stabilize their economy is a bitter pill for North Dakota soybean farmers to swallow,” Representative Fedorchak said.
While China’s deal with Argentina and new tariffs seem to hurt the chances of a soybean sale to Beijing, all hope is not lost.
Trump administration officials have begun floating a multi-billion-dollar aid package that would be targeted to soybean farmers due to the loss of the Chinese market. The president endorsed this idea in a social media post, “We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers,” the post read.
The idea of payments for farmers was previously floated by Rep. Fedorchak.
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