Trump VP contender Noem ducks question on his China tariff plans

Trump veepstakes candidate and South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday ducked a question during a congressional hearing when pressed about the former president’s talk of slapping steep new tariffs on all Chinese goods — a move that could trigger immense financial fallout for farmers in her state.

"I think that that is a proposal that people are still looking at and having conversations about," Noem replied at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the threat of China to American agriculture.

Trump and his allies have floated new tariffs as high as 60 percent on all Chinese goods, which they argue will bring manufacturing back to the U.S. However, American farmers and agribusinesses are still reeling from Trump’s first trade war that hit hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods with tariffs. Beijing's retaliation effectively cut off U.S. producers from their largest export market.

Noem declined to weigh in on the merits of Trump’s proposals. Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), the top Democrat on the panel, asked Noem whether farmers in her state were prepared to face the financial consequences of such a move by Trump, should he win the presidency.

"And that is a great conversation for you to continue to have as well with the Republican members here as well to weigh in, to make sure we get the best policy in place," Noem added. "Because policy is what matters and the debate and the discussion is incredibly important."

Noem, a former U.S. representative, also declined to weigh in on the matter when asked about Trump’s tariffs as she left the hearing Wednesday.

Trump’s initial trade war with Beijing and new tariff threats have alarmed some Republican lawmakers in rural districts and has sparked intraparty fights as the GOP presses to hammer China ahead of November and de-link the world’s two largest and deeply intertwined economies.

“Tariffs end up costing Americans,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, another farm state where farmers rely on China's export market. Bacon added he is “willing to have the conservation” about China’s unfair trading practices and other malign behavior, but said suggested he’d be wary of new tariffs that could blow back on U.S. farmers.

Trump’s trade war inflicted deep and long-lasting damage on U.S. soybean farmers, one of the top crops grown in Noem’s state.

Immediately after Noem testified before the panel Wednesday, Josh Gackle, a farmer from North Dakota who heads the American Soybean Association described the immense fallout for U.S. soybean farmers after Trump’s initial 2018 trade war with Beijing. U.S. soybean sales to China were a top casualty of the trade war and total losses to U.S. farmers topped $27 billion, Gackle noted.

“The sheer sale of China’s demand for soybeans cannot be replaced,” Gackle said, warning that new tariffs would inflict new and potentially worse financial damage for American farmers than in 2018 as countries like Brazil rise to fill the void.