Today, Rep. Ron Kind called on Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and the President’s top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, to provide more information after the President claimed that China would be making large purchases of agricultural products weeks ago. To date, no such purchases have been made.
On Monday, Kudlow stated that the Administration expects that China will soon be announcing “some large-scale purchases” but offered no further details. In his letter, Rep. Kind pressed Perdue and Kudlow to provide more information on when farmers can expect these purchases to happen as they continue to face uncertainty among the ongoing trade war.
“Farmers in Wisconsin and across the country are being forced to bear the brunt of this trade war and they can’t afford to much longer,” said. Rep. Ron Kind. “This Administration promised that relief was coming, but it’s been weeks, and nothing has happened. Our farmers deserve to know when they can expect these purchases will happen—if at all—and it's on Secretary Purdue, Director Kudlow, and the rest of the Trump Administration to give us these answers.”
Since the Trump Administration’s trade war began in March of 2018, Wisconsin taxpayers have paid $251 million in additional taxes, and have seen a 30 percent drop in exports subject to tariff retaliation.
Read the letter here.
