Senators Roberts, Moran: Enough with trade war damage to Kansas farm economy

Tag-team trade war skeptics Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran kept up rolling criticism Friday of a protectionist agenda unraveling free trade policies and eliciting retaliatory actions harmful to Kansas’ crop and livestock exporters.

Roberts, a Republican who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, led a hearing that chewed on the issue like a hungry southwestern corn borer.

“I hear from producers across the agriculture industry, and across our food value chain, about how trade policies impact their prices, decisions and livelihoods,” Roberts said. “On top of already low prices, the agriculture sector has seen immediate negative impacts as a result of retaliatory trade actions.”

Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in theory would make U.S.-made goods less expensive than imported goods, but Roberts said trade conflict was poised to undermine U.S. market access in countries that have been solid consumers of American agriculture exports.

Read more: http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180913/senators-roberts-moran-enough-with-trade-war-damage-to-kansas-farm-economy