Central Virginia farmers are paying the price for President Trump’s going-nowhere trade war with China.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is pressing the administration on its strategy.
“In Central Virginia, the effects of the administration’s trade war are still rippling through the Seventh District’s rural communities. Relationships with buyers in China are unstable, market access hasn’t returned to previous levels, and farm families have been forced to receive MFP payments to lessen the blow to their bottom lines. While the signing of the partial trade agreement with China earlier this year was a positive first step toward recovery, the promised effects on the ground haven’t been anywhere close to apparent,” said Spanberger, who questioned Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in a House Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Spanberger made clear that Seventh District farmers need an ally in the administration and a a well-developed strategy to regain market access, “not a wait-and-see attitude,” as she called the current approach.
In January, Spanberger called on the administration to develop a full strategy for ending the trade war with China following the signing of the phase one agreement.
“I’ve long said that our producers don’t want a handout from the federal government—they want a fair shot,” Spanberger said.
Story by Chris Graham
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