Asa Hutchinson: Broad tariffs imperil American agriculture

My parents lived through the Great Depression, a time in the 1930s when every sector of our economy collapsed, from agriculture to banking. I heard many stories about the hardships of that time on working families. Many economists blame the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, with its protectionist tariffs, as the root cause of the depression. These tariffs devastated America, taking a decade to recover.

Today, American agriculture faces a similar threat from the “ring around America” tariffs proposed by candidate Donald Trump. Trump has said he wants to enact across the board tariffs of 10% to all our trading partners. This is not a surprise since Trump has always been an advocate of tariffs, falsely proclaiming that somehow countries pay tariffs when, in reality, the consumers pay this tax on trade.

Iowa, like my home state of Arkansas, is an economy rooted in the family farm. Our farmers are able to produce much more than we consume in America and we depend upon global markets to sell our corn, soybeans, beef and pork. If Trump’s tariffs were adopted, these global markets would shrivel faster than a dried-out corn stalk.

According to the Tax Foundation, the across-the-board 10% tariffs pushed by Trump would add $300 billion in costs for American consumers and result in a loss of 500,000 jobs, including from agriculture to manufacturing. This would happen because of retaliatory tariffs imposed by other nations as a reaction to Trump closing off our economy to the world.

This would particularly have a negative impact on Iowa agriculture. Iowa farmers sell their grain and products across the globe from Mexico to Europe and Asia. Other countries would look elsewhere to buy ethanol, corn, soybeans, beef and pork. Why? Because other countries provide access to their markets without punitive tariffs.

I certainly agree that America needs fair trade as well as free trade. But fair trade should be achieved through targeted tariffs like we have done with China, rather than by across the board 10% tariff tax on all incoming goods to the U.S. Such blunt and misguided policies only serve to punish American consumers and producers. We need more global markets open to our Iowa farmers, not closing down markets abroad.

Trump’s proposed tariffs send one message to the world: American producers cannot compete. I not only believe we can compete in the global marketplace but that we can win!

Let’s learn the lessons of history. Tariffs did not work in the 1930s; they did not work in the 1980s to protect the auto industry; and they won’t work in today’s economy. Our farmers outproduce most of the world and thrive in a competitive global marketplace. They don’t need our protection; they simply need opportunities to sell what they produce without penalty.

Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas, is a Republican candidate for president.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Asa Hutchinson: Broad tariffs are bad news for American agriculture