Import tariffs that raise the specter of retaliation remain unpopular with farm leaders, with some exceptions. President-elect Trump vows universal import tariffs of ten to 20 percent and 60 percent on Chinese goods, to bring manufacturing jobs back home and raise revenue.

However, farm leaders remember the steep retaliatory tariffs they faced on exports during Trump’s first-term import tariffs. Troy Bredenkamp is the senior vice president of government and public affairs at the Renewable Fuels Association.

“We are just looking for fair trade across the board…we’re not necessarily fans of a tariff approach to that.”

American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall:

“When tariffs are put on other countries, a lot of times, agriculture communities carry the brunt of the retaliation of what comes with those tariffs.”

But RFA’s Bredenkamp says sometimes tariffs are justified, like with Brazil’s 18 percent tariff on U.S. ethanol.

“And we would certainly expect President Trump and his administration to realize that is an unfair playing field and take the appropriate response, which could be pretty significant tariffs on any Brazilian products coming into the US.”

In the meantime, Bredenkamp argues China should not get a U.S. tax break for its used cooking oil exports into America to make sustainable aviation fuel.

“We would fully expect the Trump Administration to take a look at that and to take action to maybe pull a lot of that back or to curtail a significant portion of that cooking oil that is currently coming into the US.”  

The Biden Treasury Department missed its deadline this month to issue so-called 45Z tax rules governing SAF feedstock tax breaks. It will now likely be up to the incoming administration to do so.