Americans love foreign products, but is our indulgence in Canadian whiskey, Mexican avocados, and Brazilian coffee a bad thing? If you ask President Donald Trump, the answer is unequivocally, yes. On Wednesday, the president announced a baseline 10 percent tariff on products from 180 nations, including higher rates for certain countries the president considers bad actors.
These duties will negatively affect the agricultural sector, which relies heavily on trade. Despite exporting over $175 billion worth of agricultural products (the third-highest level on record), imports outpaced exports in 2024.
If history is any indicator, farmers are sure to pay for Trump's trade war. During the first Trump administration, retaliatory tariffs on American goods led to $27 billion in losses to agricultural exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, most of which was caused by lost trade with China.
