CHICAGO  (China Daily) — U.S. farmers have raised an outcry against Washington's latest move to increase tariffs on Chinese imports, warning of serious consequences for U.S. farms and families as the trade tensions drag on.
Washington on Friday increased additional tariffs on Chinese imports worth $200 billion from 10 percent to 25 percent, a move Beijing said it deeply regrets and will be forced to respond to with necessary countermeasures.
In a joint statement, the U.S. National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), the American Soybean Association (ASA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) said farmers across the United States "are extremely concerned by the actions taken today" by the U.S. government.
The three commodities, according to the associations, represent around 171 million acres of farmland in the United States.
"U.S. wheat growers are facing tough times right now, and these additional tariffs will continue to put a strain on our export markets and threaten many decades worth of market development," said Ben Scholz, NAWG president and a wheat farmer in Texas.
****This undated photo shows soybeans being harvested in Princeton, Illinois, the United States.