I heard this story on the radio this afternoon and found it especially interesting. China's tariffs on American food products in retaliation to the steel and aluminum tariffs are greatly affecting the production of Ginseng, an herb that we usually associate as coming from Asia, and that is used in herbal teas and remedies. The farmer interviewed in this story says that last year, Wisconsin farmers shipped almost $30 million of Ginseng to China, and until the 1990's, produced 95% of Ginseng worldwide. The report brings up questions of whether the tariffs on US products are being targeted to politically important production areas (because in this case, this district in Wisconsin is represented by Paul Ryan and also voted for Trump), but I also wonder what effect this will have on the Ginseng markets, since the overwhelming majority of supply is now going to cost at least 15% more.
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/04/03/china-tariffs-ginseng-wisconsin
3 comments:
It is interesting that the article addressed the effects brought to the relevant party
and it should be aware of the government to consider cost-benefit implications in a trade war. One of the concerns raised from trade war is that consumers would be unreluctantly putting into an unbeneficial position.
I think the tariffs might be what finally drive some 2016 Trump voters away from him, especially within the world of agriculture. They even pushed Gary Cohn to finally leave the White House.
They tactical choices China has made when implementing these tariffs is astounding. They have targeted important economic regions of the United States with these tariffs. I am going to assume this political pressure on Republicans is not what President Trump was wanting when he started this trade war.
I am also interested to see how this changes the trade of Ginseng. I use to dig Ginseng and other roots myself when I lived in southern Ohio. Hopefully it doesn't do too much damage.
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