Trump says he loves U.S. farmers, but not all of them are convinced
Sheena Goodyear | CBC Radio | Posted: March 5, 2025 11:04 PM | Last Updated: March 5
‘It doesn’t feel like love,’ Minnesota Farmers Union president says of trade war with Canada
Farmer Gary Wertish isn't feeling the love from Donald Trump, despite what the U.S. president says.
During his speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump told U.S. farmers that, despite some early bumps in the road, tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China would ultimately be in their best interest.
"Our new trade policy will also be great for the American farmer," he said. "I love the farmer."
Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, disagrees. He was in Washington, D.C., for the speech, as a guest of Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
"It doesn't feel like love," Wertish told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "It's going to hurt farmers on both sides of the border."
Farmers in the U.S. and Canada have pushed back against Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products, as well as tariffs against Mexico and China, saying it will close off markets, hurt their bottom line, and potentially cost them billions in revenue.
Some American farmers, however, have taken the president at his word that, in the end, it will make the U.S. agricultural industry more competitive and self-sufficient.
Trump to U.S. farmers: 'Have fun!'
On Tuesday, Trump implemented 25 per cent tariffs — which are taxes on imports — on goods from Canada and Mexico, and also increased tariffs on China.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately responded with retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods and promised $125 billion more three weeks from now.
Farmers all over Canada have been speaking out about the financially devastating effects of a trade war with the U.S., including canola and beef farmers in Alberta, grain farmers on the Praires, and dairy farmers on the East Coast.
WATCH | Sask. farmer says Canadian agriculture industry not ready for trade war:
It's not clear how the standoff between Canada and its southern neighbour will play out. The White House already promised to delay auto industry tariffs by a month, and hinted other tariffs could be reduced.
But whatever happens, farmers are already feeling the burn — and not just on this side of the border.
Corn and soybean prices for this year's U.S. harvest already fell roughly 10 per cent since the tariffs were first announced a couple of weeks ago.
Joe Janzen, an agricultural economist with the University of Illinois, said that has "snuffed out" any profitability in those crops.
Trump has repeatedly insisted U.S. farmers will benefit from tariffs because they'll have less competition domestically. In one social media post, he told American farmers to "have fun" selling their products inside the U.S.
Janzen called those comments "at best, tone deaf."
"There is no domestic market for the amount of corn, soybeans, wheat, and other agricultural products that we now export in significant quantities," he said.
Meanwhile, as crop prices decline, farmers might see their fertilizer bill jump because 85 percent of the potash American farmers use in fertilizer comes from Canada, which supplies some nitrogen fertilizer as well.
"We need potash to raise healthier crops," said Minnesota farmer Danny Lundell, who hosted Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on his corn and soybean farm near Cannon Falls on Tuesday. "And it doesn't matter if you're big, medium or small, it's going to affect you."
If the tariffs make farmers uneasy about investing in expensive tractors, and consumers worry so much about groceries that they cut other spending, that would hurt the economy overall, says Glynn Tonsor, an agricultural economist at Kansas State University.
Steve Kuiper, a director at the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says that's already happening.
"Farmers are very concerned," Kuiper said. "People just aren't buying stuff."
California farmer hails tariffs
But not all U.S. farmers are losing hope.
Andrew Leimgruber, owner of Leimgruber Farms in California, told Fox News that while retaliatory tariffs may impact business in the short term, he believes Trump's moves will give U.S. industry an advantage at home over international competitors, many of which he says have a leg-up because of lower minimum wages and less stringent regulations.
"I'm going to put my trust in our chief executor, President Trump, that he understands these negotiation deals and he's preparing us for a better standing on the global market and the domestic market at home," Leimgruber said.
Wertish disagrees. He says U.S. farmers are still recovering from Trump's first-term tariffs, which saw China turn increasingly to Brazil for agricultural goods.
"It's going to cause long-term damage," he said. "It's destroying our trust as a reliable trading partner around the globe."
He says Canada and the U.S. are particularly integrated, with some agricultural products, including livestock, crossing the border several times before ever hitting shelves.
According to Canadian government figures, the U.S. exported $32 billion US ($46 billion Cdn) in agricultural products to Canada in 2023, and Canada exported $40.5 billion ($58.1 billion Cdn) to the United States.
"We rely on each other and we need to trade amongst each other. You can't set the clock back 75 years and do it all within," he said. "This doesn't seem like he really understands the effects of tariffs and how it's going to hurt people."