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More tariffs from China “another straw on the camel’s back”

China’s announcement Friday to add tariffs on 75 billion dollars of US goods puts more pressure on US farmers.

“There’s more straw on the camel’s back, as my dad always said, and it just seems like that pile keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Illinois farmer Rob Shaffer with the American Soybean Association tells Brownfield an additional 5% tariff on US soybeans just adds to the challenges.

“We’ve got low commodity prices. We’ve got 900 million bushels of soybeans to get rid of. China was our largest customer and now because of the trade war we are down probably 80% in shipments if not more year over year.”

He says President Trump has commended US farmers for being patriots during the trade war but,

“My banker isn’t going to take that I am a patriot to repay my operating note.”

Shaffer says when China first announced tariffs in early 2018 he didn’t expect it to go this far.