One state ag official says President Trump’s tariffs on foreign made goods is part of a larger plan to level the playing field for US products, including agriculture. North Carolina Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler says many countries are dumping products into the US, and that’s a concern.

“They’re sending products in here to the United States that are way, way, way below what we can raise them for. So it can work both ways. I have been in touch with the White House about some ideas I have about reciprocal tariffs on ag products that are coming into the United States, if it gets that far. So we’ll see.”

Troxler reminds folks that tariffs work both ways.

“A lot of countries want to hit us at the belt line, which is agriculture. So if a tariff is put on some goods that have nothing to do with agriculture, sometimes these countries retaliate against agriculture, and it becomes pretty problematic. We do know that tobacco, sweet potatoes, pork and poultry, all are big export crops along with our grain crops. So it remains to be seen, as of yet, how this is going to turn out.”

He adds that in Trump’s first administration, the president protected farmers from collateral damage.

“We’re hopeful, when this all settles out, that it actually could get better frag than it is. Now, the one thing we do know, the last time that the Trump administration got into the tariff squabbles that they were very good about looking after farmers and the losses that they incurred. So we would think that would happen again.”