Canada is benefiting from the Trump administration’s “America First” policy because China is buying more agricultural products from Canadian farmers instead.
The theory behind the “America First” trade and immigration restrictions is that they are good for America. However, after nearly three years it’s become clear the country such policies are helping is Canada, not the United States.
China stopped buying agricultural products from US farmers in retaliation for the Trump administration imposing tariffs on imports from China. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report: “Canada’s share of total Chinese imports of wheat has rocketed above 60 percent in 2018-19, up from 32 percent in 2017-18, as US wheat exports to China have plunged.”
“Losing the world’s most populous country as an export market has been a major blow to the US agriculture industry,” reports the New York Times. “Total American agricultural exports to China were $24 billion in 2014 and fell to $9.1 billion last year, according to the American Farm Bureau.” US exports of soybeans to China declined nearly 60% between 2018 and 2019, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Trump tariffs have also harmed American consumers and inflicted high economic costs on the US economy. China has also increased its export tariffs to the US.
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