Please note that Cherry Farmers Say US-China Trade War has Made Business Go Sour.
When it comes to the impact of Chinese tariffs on U.S. farm goods, sweet cherries are the canary in the coal mine.
Unlike other commodities that can be stored, cherries are perishable. They’re picked, packed and sold right away. When China’s tariff went from 10 percent to 50 percent last July, right in the middle of the harvest, exports to China went from the most profitable to the pits.
Growers in Washington state, by far the largest producer of sweet cherries in the U.S., saw their bumper crop lose $86 million in value overnight.
Soybeans grown in the Midwest are a much bigger player, accounting for 60 percent of the $20 billion of food exports to China. A Nebraska Farm Bureau report recently released said the retaliatory tariffs have cost state growers $1 billion. Farmworkers lost another $200 million in income.
4th Dimension Thinking
Not to worry, some of my readers inform me that Trump is playing chess in 4D.
The same applies to soybeans, kidney beans, specialty nails, whiskey, corn, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, and countless other wins that I am having a seriously hard time keeping track of.
Tariff Scorecard
On October 25 I reported 57 Companies Bitch About Trump’s Tariffs, 7 Give Positive View.
That report left off nails, tire chord makers, kidney beans, cranberries, and lobster.
Once again, I remind everyone that this is working perfectly by design, that Trump is thinking in the fourth dimension, and that everything is going to plan. How do I know this?
Trump Endorses Boycott of Harley
Many @harleydavidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas. Great! Most other companies are coming in our direction, including Harley competitors. A really bad move! U.S. will soon have a level playing field, or better.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2018
Trade Wars Easy to Win
When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018
4th Dimension Scorecard
No doubt some of you want a more recent update on 4th dimension thinking.
With all these alleged victories I don’t blame you. Let’s check in for a third-quarter update of successes.
Please consider Trade Deficit Widens by 1.7% With China Leading the Way.
Excuse me, that chart shows a month-over-month headline. What about the third quarter?
Third Quarter Numbers by Country
- The deficit with China increased $10.3 billion to $95.9 billion in the third quarter. Exports decreased $3.1 billion to $46.0 billion and imports increased $7.2 billion to $141.9 billion.
- The deficit with the European Union increased $6.3 billion to $30.2 billion in the third quarter. Exports decreased $2.0 billion to $143.2 billion and imports increased $4.2 billion to $173.4 billion.
- The deficit with Japan decreased $1.9 billion to $13.4 billion in the third quarter. Exports increased $0.5 billion to $30.4 billion and imports decreased $1.5 billion to $43.7 billion.
5th Dimension Needed
We desperately need a 5th Dimension. I can help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq7EaBBBGdk
If anyone can possibly deliver 5th dimension tariff thinking to save the US, I am positive Trump is the one.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
I thought the musical tribute would be Sweet Cherry Pie by Warrant.
“On October 25 I reported 57 Companies Bitch About Trump’s Tariffs, 7 Give Positive View.”
How do the former workers at the 60,000 American factories that shut down, feel?
Carly Fiorina alone dumped 30,000 out of a job. She didn’t do very well when she ran for U.S. Senator of California. Probably some of her former workers paid her back.
The French seem to be kind of upset right now. The Greeks, the Italians as well. Then there are the British. And let’s not forget the Germans. All in all, it seems rather global, for that matter. Nobody is particularly getting along. It is a Kondratieff Winter kind of thing. And it’s getting colder.
Show of hands for the number of farmers in the US… Yea, I thought so.
There’s a disproportionate amount of attention paid to the farming sector in the financial and political world. Agriculture is the OG crony capitalist economy. We have so much cheap food produced that our poor are obese. Quality of food continues to decline, the environment is severely damaged and yet the farmer continues to produce more and more. Politically, thanks to the massive subsidies on exports, local farmers are run out of business and destabilization of a small country’s economy is all but guaranteed. But anyone who might even bring up the though of reforming or eliminating the ̶m̶i̶n̶i̶s̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶ Department of Agriculture is committing political suicide thanks to the media’s obsession with Iowa in presidential elections.
Well there is that whole “humans have to eat to stay alive” thing… but other than that, who needs farmers?
The point of Ag programs is to assure over-production of food. Nothing will cost politicians their career faster than insufficient food.
Expect the unexpected in 2019. No way trump survives once the economy tanks.
Well you can always vote “Billionaire” again next time.
Pull either lever
It’s getting more heated now. Will China Retaliate over Meng Wanzou’s arrest by arresting US entrepreneurs within their borders? There’s a few people I subscribe to that are American citizens living in China that are now leaving because of conditions there and that has only been happening in the last month. It’s becoming evident that China is going to end up destroying itself.
Wait a minute though, Fox Business network had the CEO of US Steel on yesterday and he said the tariffs allowed him to increase profits and hire 400 new workers with plans to add 200 more next year! 600 new jobs!!!!! Pay no attention to those 25,000 layoffs from Ford and GM behind the curtain. MAGA.
Very good jobs. Very strong. People are telling me they are incredible!
If it were Mexican or Canadian or some other cherries that were cheaper (even from Government subsidies) that was undermining the US industry, you would be celebrating the death of US Farms and Farmers, “creative destruction”, calling them lazy, and saying they should just move and find some other job.