U.S. farmers raise objections to tariff on Mexican imports

“We call on the president to rescind this threat immediately,” said Ben Scholz, a wheat farmer from Lavon, Texas, and president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. “We’ve been hit by low prices; we’ve been hit by rain and flooding that is hurting what was an excellent wheat crop; and now we’ve been hit again by the actions of our own government. We need to end indiscriminate use of tariffs now, one way or another.”

Although most of the wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest goes to Pacific Rim countries rather than Mexico, Glen Squires, chief executive officer of the Washington Grain Commission, said the overall effect of unsystematic tariffs on trade relations between the U.S. and other countries is disheartening.

“The problem is,” Squires said, Mexico is “right next door and they’re a huge buyer of our wheat. And when stuff like this happens, that’s why you see this frustration. They need reliability and consistency and when this happens, they’re not sure what the costs are and they go somewhere else.”

U.S. Wheat Associates noted when Trump publicly threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico and its industries, including flour millers, began looking elsewhere for supplies.

Recently, the administration has been making progress on the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and Mexico has been importing more U.S. wheat.

Chris Kolstand, a wheat farmer from Ledger, Mont., and chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates, said the organization planned to hold a conference with Mexican customers this week “partly to remind them how important they are to us. Of course, the cost of the conference is funded by the Agricultural Trade Promotion program that was awarded because U.S. wheat farmers proved they were being hurt by retaliatory tariffs.”

Squires said interference with the trade discussions between Mexico and the U.S. is likely to have an impact on trade agreements with Japan, which is one of the top buyers of soft white wheat grown in Idaho and Washington.

Farmers have been told that talks with Japan and other nations won’t take place until after the situation with Mexico is resolved.

“It’s all interconnected,” Squires said. “This has a potential of delaying ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and very likely will delay any kind of effort with Japan.

“We are at a price disadvantage (with Japan because of the United State’s withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership). We really need to get a bilateral agreement with Japan, so these tariffs with Mexico just make it less likely that that’s going to get addressed.”

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.