Perdue: Tariffs Not ‘Ultimate Answer’

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue spoke recently to the Washington International Trade Association, where he described tariffs as “a tool to get people’s attention,” so both teams “play by the same rules.” He said tariffs are not the “ultimate answer.”

Perdue acknowledged that retaliation by China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union to Trump’s tariffs was causing pain in farm country, but he framed the issue with optimism.

The ag secretary said when President Trump asked him how things were in farm country, he said, “I can't lie to you. It’s a little bit like a weight loss program. It’s painful when you’re going through it, but we think there’s going to be better days ahead.”

The comments came the day the House Ways and Means Committee heard from farmers and ranchers on the harm the ongoing trade war is causing. A current consensus seems to be that agriculture understands trade could be better when the dust settles, but an American Farm Bureau Federation representative says the decisions made now could be costly for farmers and ranchers.     Source: Politico