There Is Worry that Some Companies May Lose Ground on Exports to China

By Mikenzie Meyers, Associate Editor

California growers are on edge due to newly imposed tariffs that could cause the state’s agriculture to suffer. After China recently retaliated against the United States’s steel and aluminum tariff by pushing its own on U.S. imports, they have good reason to be worried. California Ag Today recently spoke to Shannon Douglass, first vice president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, who is heavily involved in this conversation.

“No matter what you’re growing, so much of our products are exported, and so it’s a really vital concern to many of our farmers,” Douglass said.

She explained that it isn’t just a concern for those involved with fresh produce—which might be the first affected—but also any farmer who depends on sales to foreign markets.

One of the biggest concerns is losing the progress made in growing the foreign market, but Douglass seemed hopeful as CFBF has continued working with those driving legislation,

“We certainly don’t want to lose that ground that we worked so hard to develop,” she said.

Agriculture has always been a winner in the trade arena, and although the climate of foreign markets may be uneasy, Douglass and the California Farm Bureau Federation are continuing the conversation to make progress toward a hopeful future for all farmers.