Amy Klobuchar Decries Trump’s ‘Reckless’ Tariffs Putting American Farmers’ Livelihoods In ‘Jeopardy’

Forbes Breaking News

During Tuesday’s Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke about the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on U.S. farmers.

Transcript

00:00Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Happy to be the

00:05warm-up act for Senator Rounds. I want to thank you for holding these

00:11important, holding the hearing for these important nominations for these USDA

00:17positions. I want to thank Mr. Lindbergh and Mr. Westhill for being with us today.

00:22Pleased to see your families are here today including Mr. Lindbergh's wife

00:28Brittany and his children John, Mark, and Lucy and I see that Lucy had the, already

00:32is matching the political smarts of her family by dressing to match her grandma.

00:37As well as Mr. Westhill's wife Michelle, his children Madeline and Benjamin. I have

00:43to say Madeline, you may be the most stylish looking child that's ever come

00:47before this committee. Thank you. Mr. Lindbergh, you have been nominated to serve

00:55as the Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Affairs, which as we know

01:00oversees USDA trade policy based on our meeting. I believe you are well

01:05qualified for this role given the work you've done in state and have a real

01:09understanding of the importance of trade for American farmers. You are coming to

01:14this position at a critical time. If confirmed, you will need to be a strong

01:18advocate for farmers and ranchers and for expanding markets in the face of what I

01:24consider, not speaking for everyone up here, but chaotic trade policy. Farming is

01:30the riskiest business there is. As we meet today, farmers in my state and across

01:35the country are eager to get into the fields to plant this year's crop. I saw

01:40this firsthand when I met with the Johnsons in Faribault County recently. They

01:45have to make business decisions right now to try to provide certainty. Can they

01:50break even, they've got input costs, they've got weather events, they've got an

01:54international market that is now completely uncertain because of these

01:58tariffs. They need markets to sell their product. 20% of what American farmers and

02:05ranchers produce goes outside of our country. There are so many customers now

02:10and potential customers. We have had three out of the last four years were record

02:15years for ag exports. My state is fourth in the nation for ag exports, so I know a

02:21little bit about this. But this reckless tariff policy right now is putting

02:25farmers' livelihoods in jeopardy and we continue, I know we all do, to hear about

02:31the negative impacts. What really bothers me about this is some of the big guys, the

02:36big companies, you know, Tim Cook can get into the White House, great, save the

02:40phones, but the soybean farmer in a little county in Minnesota doesn't have that

02:45phone number. Can't get into that meeting in Wall Street with the Treasury

02:50Secretary. So I'm just afraid that these smaller farmers and ranchers are going to

02:54be roadkill if this isn't resolved as soon as possible. The top three countries

02:59targeted for tariffs, Mexico, Canada, and China, are also our top three ag export

03:05markets and account for half of all US ag exports. We're already seeing

03:10retaliation and our farmers have said they want aid, not trade, and I do

03:14appreciate again you, Mr. Lindbergh, and our discussions about the need to make sure

03:19that we have export markets because there's so many opportunities out there

03:24and we need to get this settled as soon as possible. We're also considering your

03:29nomination, Mr. Westhill. This is a critically important position where you'll

03:35be tasked with ensuring that every farmer and every USDA employee is treated

03:39with the respect and fairness that they deserve. Historically, the USDA has not

03:44always done so, both for the farmers it serves and the federal workers dedicating

03:49their careers to public service. Despite progress made in recent years, we know

03:54there's more work to be done and this is particularly important as we see some of

03:59the actions from this administration. I appreciated our conversation very much and, as

04:05you know, I expressed concerns, some of which you'll hear today, about some of the

04:10ongoing issues with civil rights, but I do look forward to hearing from you today.

04:14Welcome you and your family to this committee room. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Category

Transcript

Recommended