WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the president today threatened to escalate the administration’s trade war, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp urged U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to improve the aid package to farmers suffering from slumping commodity prices and an uncertain future for this season’s crop. 

Heitkamp outlined concerns to Secretary Perdue that support for soybean farmers is inadequate because it doesn’t take into account the increase in basis – the cost of getting a crop to market – that farmers have faced as a result of the trade war. Basis varies by region, and North Dakota farmers have seen their basis increase more than farmers in other regions. Heitkamp urged Secretary Perdue to consider regional variations in price and the widening basis for soybean farmers when calculating how much assistance to provide.

While canola has not yet been hit with retaliatory tariffs, the price of canola is closely tied to the price of soybeans, and Heitkamp urged Secretary Perdue to make canola an eligible commodity for assistance due to the depressed prices farmers are facing.

Heitkamp also expressed concerns that corn growers will be inadequately compensated for their losses. The farmer aid package proposes to compensate corn growers at one cent per bushel, much less that the decrease in price for a bushel of corn since June 1.

Click here to read Heitkamp’s letter to Secretary Perdue.

“Today’s threat to escalate the trade war is a threat to North Dakota farmers. I’ve long pushed to hold China accountable for its trade violations, but we can’t do it on the backs of hardworking North Dakotans,” Heitkamp said. “The administration acknowledged the damaging impact of its trade war and developed a package to provide some aid to our hurting farmers and ranchers, but more must be done to alleviate the pain North Dakota agriculture is feeling, which is what I pressed Secretary Perdue about today. Secretary Perdue has acknowledged that this aid won’t make farmers whole. In many cases, it won’t even come close. As farmers take to the field to harvest this year’s crop, many are worried about being able to make their operating loans, let alone support themselves and their families. North Dakota’s farmers don’t deserve to be collateral damage in this trade war, and the administration must make every effort to alleviate the pain and quickly resolve the trade disputes that are putting livelihoods at stake.” 

Heitkamp stressed the importance of adequately staffing local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices, which are tasked with processing applications for aid. During last year’s drought, Heitkamp successfully pressed USDA to provide additional staffing at FSA offices across North Dakota.

Heitkamp is also hearing from North Dakota farmers that banks are becoming increasingly cautious about issuing operating loans for the 2019 growing season. She urged Secretary Perdue to consider increasing loan rates and making additional credit opportunities available to ensure farmers and ranchers are able to make it to next year’s growing season and keep their operations running. 

Heitkamp has been proactively fighting for smart trade policies to protect North Dakota. This week, Heitkamp introduced legislation that would take action to help mitigate some damage caused by retaliatory tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. It would direct the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to direct funds collected by the Treasury from tariffs on imported goods toward trade promotion programs that help U.S. farmers and ranchers, including the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD). The government has already collected over $3.5 billion from tariffs, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In July, she introduced legislation to help farmers and ranchers recover losses they face because of the administration’s trade war. Her bill would make Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) available – at no additional cost to the existing TAA program – to farmers and producers whose exports are hurt by retaliatory tariffs caused by the administration’s trade policies.

Earlier this year, Heitkamp joined U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) leading a bipartisan group of eight other senators in introducing legislation to require congressional approval of tariffs designated for national security reasons. Heitkamp also cosponsored bipartisan legislation introduced by Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona to nullify the aluminum and steel tariffs.

Background:

From the beginning of this administration, Heitkamp has been proactively fighting for smart trade policies to protect North Dakota producers by:

• Pressing top officials since the beginning of this administration to protect and expand markets for North Dakota goods. Heitkamp has met with the U.S. Agriculture Secretary (USDA), U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), U.S Commerce Secretary, and many other top U.S. administration officials – many of them several times – to explain that the U.S. needs smart trade policies to allow our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers to reach new markets – not tariffs, uncertainty with NAFTA, or hostility toward our top trading partners. In February 2017, when she first met with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, when he was a nominee for the position, the bulk of their conversation focused on trade. Heitkamp recently pushed Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, on the impact of the administration’s trade war on the U.S. economy. Powell agreed that imposing tariffs over a sustained period time is the wrong thing to do for the economy.  

• Engaging with North Dakota’s critical trading partners like Canada and Mexico. In frequent meetings and phone calls with the Mexican and Canadian Ambassadors to the U.S., Heitkamp has worked to protect the trade relationships that keep North Dakotas export-dependent economy thriving. She recently coordinated a meeting between North Dakota farmers and ranchers and the Mexican ambassador to help maintain their trade relationship amid the uncertainty caused by the administration’s trade war and NAFTA renegotiation.

• Supporting bipartisan legislation to stop the tariffs. Heitkamp joined U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) leading a bipartisan group of eight other senators in introducing legislation to require congressional approval of tariffs designated for national security reasons. Heitkamp also cosponsored bipartisan legislation introduced by Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona to nullify the aluminum and steel tariffs.

• Introducing legislation to help farmers and ranchers recover losses they face because of the administration’s trade war. In July, Heitkamp introduced legislation that would make Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) available – at no additional cost to the existing TAA program – to farmers and producers whose exports are hurt by retaliatory tariffs caused by the administration’s trade policies. She also introduced a bill to direct funds the government is collecting from tariffs on imported goods toward trade promotion assistance to help open new markets for farmers and ranchers hurt by the trade war.

• Gaining input from North Dakotans. Heitkamp has regularly met with folks from North Dakota impacted by trade, including recent meetings in Washington with North Dakota growers of soybeans, corn, barley, and other commodities, as well as manufacturers and small business owners. She has held a series of meetings across the state to gain input from North Dakotans in agriculture, energy, and manufacturing. And she recently launched a web survey to gain input from North Dakotans to help inform how she can best push back on the administration’s actions on trade.

• Outlining her agenda to strengthen and protect North Dakota’s economy. During a meeting with USTR Robert Lighthizer earlier this year, Heitkamp laid out her top four priorities to support North Dakota workers, farmers, and businesses by enabling them to export their products abroad, and recently spoke out against the administration’s escalating trade war with China, which also threatens North Dakota’s main industries – energy, agriculture, and manufacturing.

• Raising concerns about impacts of retaliatory tariffs on the manufacturing industry. Heitkamp recently toured WCCO Belting, Inc. in Wahpeton and heard firsthand the concerns the North Dakota manufacturer has about trade wars and its ability to export its goods. Over half of WCCO’s sales are to international customers, making trade an essential part of its business model.

• Speaking out against tariffs and uncertainty regarding NAFTA that would put the state’s economy at risk. Heitkamp has met with farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers across North Dakota to talk about the need for smart trade policies that support North Dakota. She penned op-eds in March 2017 and again in April 2018 making the case. In February, she also did an episode on her podcast, The Hotdish, about NAFTA and the importance of trade for agriculture. For the episode, she interviewed the former U.S. agricultural trade negotiator and a North Dakota barley farmer. Heitkamp recently brought a group of North Dakota agriculture leaders to the Mexican Embassy in Washington to talk about the importance of NAFTA and reinforce their commitment to a strong relationship with their customers in Mexico

• Pressing for analysis about the impact of the administration’s trade policies on small businesses. Heitkamp recently called on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy to analyze the impact of the administration’s tariff policies on American small businesses. Small businesses represent nearly 99 percent of all businesses in North Dakota, and support nearly 60 percent of all jobs in the state, according to SBA.

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