Alabama farmers brace for impact as China’s tariffs take effect

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — China raised tariffs on U.S. grown products by 10% to 15% Monday, according to the Associated Press. Those import taxes will be on products like chicken, cotton and corn.

“As I sit here and talk, I mean, it could put us out of business,” said Shep Morris, a farmer in Shorter. “Nobody knows where it’s going to end, even the people initiating it. But the way we were headed was death by a thousand cuts.”

Morris grows sesame, cotton and corn on his farm in Macon County. He said he’s concerned about tariffs from China going into effect, but he said it was necessary for the U.S. to raise import taxes. Morris explained that will bring infrastructure, like textile mills, back to the U.S.

“Our problem is we don’t have infrastructure, the textile mills, to process it,” Morris said. “All has to go out and come back. If we had our textile industry back, we would actually need more acres of cotton to meet the demand.”

Besides cotton, Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Rick Pate said poultry is the state’s primary export. That’s to the tune of 23 million chickens a week, Pate said.

“A lot of countries have been unfair to us for a long time, and so there has to be some sort of reset, or we’re never going to get things right,” Pate said. “So I’m cautiously optimistic that it’s going to work out fine for Alabama farmers.”

Pate said the tariffs could cause more products to be sold domestically at a discounted price. He said that’s good for the consumer but bad for the farmer.

“I would say don’t be overly alarmed,” Pate said. “This is not the end of the world. We’ve got plenty of food in this country. We’ll feed ya. Might have to make some adjustments to other things.”

Morris said the U.S. is on the right track in his opinion.

“For the sake of the country, we need a revision, and I think that’s where we’re trying to go,” Morris said. “And it applies to a lot of things. I mean, ball bearings, steel, copper. It’s not just agricultural products.”

Pate said food security is national security.