Republicans who represent farm-heavy areas — places hit hard by the Trump administration’s first trade war — say they aren’t worried about history repeating itself, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated pledge to institute tariffs when he gets into office.
Agriculture experts warn that Trump’s trade campaign pledges will inevitably lead to “retaliatory tariffs” that typically wreak havoc on American farmers, just as they did the last time he was president. But GOP members say they trust Trump to figure it out.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said she felt confident in Trump’s ability to make trade deals that won’t negatively impact her state this time around.