It’s not a good time to be a soybean farmer. Donald Trump‘s ever-escalating US-China trade war has seen colossal tariffs from both sides: Chinese imports to the US are at an eye-watering 125%, and US imports to China are currently at 84%. That tariff level effectively ends trade between the two superpowers, leaving those whose businesses rely on it looking at complete financial ruin.
Among the hardest hit are US farmers, whose crops are planted to careful financial forecasts that rely on market stability. So, consider the case of a Kentucky soybean farmer who planted crops expecting to be able to export them to the Chinese market, now finding that this export is effectively impossible.
Said farmer is 38-year-old soybean Caleb Ragland, the president of the American Soybean Association, and a three-time Trump voter now discovering the true meaning of FAFO. In an article published by TheFP.com, Ragland pleads with the White House for aid, saying in no uncertain terms that Trump’s trade war is farmers’ worst nightmares come true:
Ragland explains: “Like many of my fellow farmers, I voted for President Donald Trump in the past three elections. The president won me over with his commitment to business-friendly tax cuts as well as his track record of reducing regulation and cutting government spending.”
He lays out the financial situation engineered by the guy he voted for: “We have 1,500 acres of soybeans on my farm. At $600 an acre, our production costs are $900,000. But in the current climate, an acre brings in only $500 of revenue, which means we’re yielding $750,000—a $150,000 loss.
Now, with his crops and industry plummeting in value due to Trump’s tariffs, he needs the White House to take action to save him and his industry: “The longer the stalemate continues, the likelier China is to take its business elsewhere—like Brazil, for instance, which could bring an additional 70 million acres of land into agricultural production by cutting down rainforests and converting degraded pastureland. Already, they’re working on this; it may take them only months.”
He ends by describing Trump’s actions as “a gamble with American livelihoods” and pleads with him to cut a deal with China as soon as possible. All we can say is good luck to Mr Ragland. Sure, he may have shot himself in the foot by repeatedly voting for the man who’s effectively destroyed his livelihood, but we’ve all had the occasional “whoops!” moment, right?
We also have to wonder what the ripple effect of creating a large number of desperate, financially ruined ex-farmers with access to guns and nothing to lose will be! I guess we’re just going to have to wait to find out.
Published: Apr 10, 2025 09:32 am