By Nathan Reineck/Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann Kuhlman
Reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration

Nearly a year after the start of a dramatic trade war between the U.S. and China, high tariffs are preventing Ohio farmers from selling many of their soybean crops, costing farmers their largest export to China.

“Just in our industry, that one commodity has cost farmers millions of dollars on lost income and revenue,” says Jack Irvin, a federal lobbyist with the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

The trade war started last March with President Donald Trump’s introduction of steel tariffs, which he enacted with the intent of boosting the U.S. steel industry.

Chinese trade officials responded with a 25 percent tariff of their own on U.S. soybeans.

The tariff came as a shock to many farmers across the nation after 25 years of China’s increased purchasing of soybeans. Every third row of soybeans was going there, says Ben Klick, an Ohio farmer and member of the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association.

China has consistently relied on large amounts of U.S. soybeans to supply its pork economy. Soybeans are commonly used in feed for pigs throughout the country.

Klick says he was lucky to get his soybeans to market before the tariffs were enacted. He says he still has other products he can sell, but unfortunately, some other farmers didn’t share in his luck.

Those who didn’t get their yields out in time have kept most of their soybeans in storage, waiting for the tariffs to be dropped.

Now, China has moved to buying soybeans from Argentina and Brazil, countries with growing agricultural sectors. Klick says the vast amount of soybeans imported to China from these two countries could boost them into top spots.

Klick adds he is worried because Argentina and Brazil can already plant crops more often than the U.S. and, with a few infrastructural improvements, they could take most of the market share.

“I know this trade war will end eventually, but, when it does, the issue that I see is will we, as farmers, be able to regain our access to China’s soybean import market,” Klick says.

This would prove a drastic setback, as Ohio farmers would lose a third of their buyers if they can’t win Chinese buyers back.

As farmers are getting ready to plant the next crop of soybeans, they don’t know if they can expect any trade with China, since the two countries have reached no trade deal.

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show soybean exports are down more than 90 percent under the trade dispute and U.S. farmers lost nearly $8 billion in the past year.

Steel production in the U.S. rose about 5 percent last year after tariffs on foreign steel were increased 25 percent.

While the tariffs have helped the U.S. steel industry grow, their impact reaches beyond just farmers. Irvin points out agriculture creates $120 billion in economic activity and 12 percent of jobs are related to the industry.

The average U.S. citizen will see price increases on all kinds of products until a deal is reached.

“Some people can come out ahead if you’re protected, but it spills over in lots of other ways to lots of other firms and lots of other people,” says C. Lockwood Reynolds, an economics professor at Kent State.

If a trade deal isn’t resolved between leaders by early March, farmers will likely see even higher tariffs introduced.

“They both [U.S. and China] want what they want, and they look out for their people and they’re not going to give to each other,” Klick says.

Chinese buyers want U.S. soybeans, Klick notes, but won’t buy them until the tariffs are removed. Klick says he believes in the president and that’s why he voted for him, but says it’s unfortunate to be on the losing end of the deal.

And Klick notes there is only a matter of time before the president shifts his focus back to re-election in 2020 and trade is not at the top of his priorities anymore.

“I know there’s a greater good behind what we call this ‘market strategy’ but if I had to sit down with some Chinese grain buyers right now, I would ensure that if things get back to what I would consider normal that we would be ready with open arms to work side by side with them and get some great quality soybeans back into their country,” he says. “A very wise man once told my grandfather one time ‘You don’t fight with another country over food, they don’t forget stuff like that.’”

The Agriculture Department approved about $12 billion to assist farmers impacted by tariffs.

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by The George Gund Foundation.



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As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details Pillen has released so far.

The governor's goal is to cut property taxes by 40% to 50%, which includes the state taking over funding of K-through-12 schools. A majority of the additional revenue needed would come from higher sales taxes and/or eliminating sales-tax exemptions for around 100 goods and services.

Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen said the governor's plan is missing one leg of the "three-legged tax reform stool" - income taxes - which he said puts legislators in a difficult position.

"By taking income taxes off the table," he said, "the governor has already limited the Legislature's ability to come up with a solution to the property tax problem that leaves our state with a more fair and balanced tax system, that is also more widely supported by citizens."

Hansen said he fears the governor's approach will cause state sales taxes to be "out of balance" and regressive - with lower-income earners paying a larger portion of their income in sales taxes than those will higher incomes. Property tax reform has been a priority of the Nebraska Farmers Union for more than three decades.

Hansen said Pillen pushed for income tax cuts for individuals and corporations in the last legislative session, despite there being no "outcry" for income tax relief.

"If you add up the first three years of those combined income tax cuts," he said, "it more than equals the amount of additional revenue that the governor needs to fund the property tax reductions that he wants."

In addition to placing a higher burden on low-income Nebraskans, Hansen argued the governor's plan would give a huge benefit to some of the state's wealthiest residents.

"For the folks who own large amounts of property and also make large amounts of income, the governor's giving them a double tax-cut benefit," he said. "He substanstially lowers both their property taxes and their income taxes, and these are the folks who already have most of the wealth."

According to the Lincoln Journal-Star, Pillen's property tax plan would save him nearly $1 million a year in property taxes.

The Keystone State continues offering a favorable landscape for Pennsylvanians seeking employment opportunities.

Claire Kovach, senior research analyst at the Keystone Research Center, said the steady trend has been ongoing for months, with the rate hovering below the national average of 4.1% during the past year.

"Pennsylvania is on a roll," Kovach asserted. "We added, I think, 15,600 jobs in June, and that's 11 months straight now that Pennsylvania has added jobs. The data we got showed that Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is still quite low through 3.4%, and it's been at that or around that for over a year now."

Kovach pointed out inflation is falling as nominal wages are growing steadily and the persistence of the combined effects is helping the labor market recover. She noted the number of nonfarm jobs rose to a record high of more than six million.

Kovach emphasized the largest increase in jobs in June was in education and health services.

"There's just some of the jobs that are most in demand," Kovach observed. "Jobs, especially like in health services, are consistently projected to be some of the most in-demand jobs over the next years and decades, especially in Pennsylvania. I believe leisure and hospitality also reached a record high in June."

Kovach added as the economy improves and nears full employment, the jobless rate will not continue to drop forever. It is expected to gradually stabilize at a low level, with the lowest so far at 3.2%.

A coalition of South Dakota groups is voicing its opposition to a ballot measure intended to end a state sales tax on consumables.

If passed this November, Initiated Measure 28 would repeal the state's 4.2% sales tax on "anything sold for human consumption," including food and other products from toothpaste to tobacco, CBD and vaping products.

Sandra Waltman, director of public affairs for the South Dakota Education Association, said the teachers union opposes the repeal because it does not include a plan to replace the money the current tax contributes to education.

"Our main reason for opposing this is the lack of a plan for replacing the $176 million and what that will do, not only for K-12 students but for higher education," Waltman explained. "Districts would probably be looking at a very bare-bones budget."

Currently, Waltman said about 60% of public school funding comes from state coffers, and the other 40% from local property taxes. She called the potential effect on education "drastic," saying they could lead to fewer teachers, larger class sizes and cuts to newer resources like mental health support and programs for career and technical education.

Proponents of the measure said repealing the tax could help the nearly 9% of South Dakotans who are food insecure but Waltman countered the same people would likely feel the effects of underfunded school systems.

"To repeal one tax without a more broad conversation about how you replace that revenue is shortsighted, and we think you shouldn't just be repealing a tax without a plan."

Other groups opposing the measure include the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South Dakotans Against a State Income Tax and the South Dakota Farm Bureau.