Why This Farmer Flipped on Trump
This Farmer voted for Trump in 2016 — and here's why he won't be supporting the president next election.
Trade is agriculture’s only marketing plan
This Ohio soybean farmer voted for Donand Trump in 2016, but he won’t support him in 2020 because of the ongoing trade war with China. 61% of rural voters supported Trump in 2016 determined by a recent Exit poll. Christopher Gibbs says that all his life he’s been a registered Republican. The U.S. exports about 30% of its soy harvest overseas. Roughly half is sold to China according to Forbes magazine. Trump’s announcement in 2018 led China to hit back with higher tariffs on U.S. goods, adversely affecting soybean exports.
“I'm not gonna be supportive of the president simply because he's hurt my business and I don't see it coming back. How the trade wars affected us on our farm and certainly agriculture across the nation is it's provided an air not an air but uncertainty. We voted for Trump particularly in the agricultural community because he had what we thought was a can-do attitude and we looked at as somebody who could upset the apple cart if you will and maybe get some things done that we needed. Specifically for agriculture and let's just talk about soybeans if you will, we're below the cost of production now and we fell below the cost of production right after the president started putting tariffs on steel and aluminum not only just to China but our allies: Canada, Mexico, the EU and others. Our price has fell because we were retaliated against. And now we can't move commodities around the world like we should in agriculture,” Gibbs tells Brut.
With 95% of the world’s population living outside the U.S., trade is agriculture’s only marketing plan. Farmers now watch in horror the long-term dismantling of critical markets. The same markets farmers built one handshake at a time with their own dollars over decades are now lost. But Gibbs sees no other 2020 candidates that can solve this problem.
Brut.
Trade is agriculture’s only marketing plan
This Ohio soybean farmer voted for Donand Trump in 2016, but he won’t support him in 2020 because of the ongoing trade war with China. 61% of rural voters supported Trump in 2016 determined by a recent Exit poll. Christopher Gibbs says that all his life he’s been a registered Republican. The U.S. exports about 30% of its soy harvest overseas. Roughly half is sold to China according to Forbes magazine. Trump’s announcement in 2018 led China to hit back with higher tariffs on U.S. goods, adversely affecting soybean exports.
“I'm not gonna be supportive of the president simply because he's hurt my business and I don't see it coming back. How the trade wars affected us on our farm and certainly agriculture across the nation is it's provided an air not an air but uncertainty. We voted for Trump particularly in the agricultural community because he had what we thought was a can-do attitude and we looked at as somebody who could upset the apple cart if you will and maybe get some things done that we needed. Specifically for agriculture and let's just talk about soybeans if you will, we're below the cost of production now and we fell below the cost of production right after the president started putting tariffs on steel and aluminum not only just to China but our allies: Canada, Mexico, the EU and others. Our price has fell because we were retaliated against. And now we can't move commodities around the world like we should in agriculture,” Gibbs tells Brut.
With 95% of the world’s population living outside the U.S., trade is agriculture’s only marketing plan. Farmers now watch in horror the long-term dismantling of critical markets. The same markets farmers built one handshake at a time with their own dollars over decades are now lost. But Gibbs sees no other 2020 candidates that can solve this problem.
Brut.