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Forbes Breaking News
  • 7 months ago
During Tuesday’s Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke about the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on U.S. farmers.

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00:00Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Happy to be the
00:05warm-up act for Senator Rounds. I want to thank you for holding these
00:11important, holding the hearing for these important nominations for these USDA
00:17positions. I want to thank Mr. Lindbergh and Mr. Westhill for being with us today.
00:22Pleased to see your families are here today including Mr. Lindbergh's wife
00:28Brittany and his children John, Mark, and Lucy and I see that Lucy had the, already
00:32is matching the political smarts of her family by dressing to match her grandma.
00:37As well as Mr. Westhill's wife Michelle, his children Madeline and Benjamin. I have
00:43to say Madeline, you may be the most stylish looking child that's ever come
00:47before this committee. Thank you. Mr. Lindbergh, you have been nominated to serve
00:55as the Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Affairs, which as we know
01:00oversees USDA trade policy based on our meeting. I believe you are well
01:05qualified for this role given the work you've done in state and have a real
01:09understanding of the importance of trade for American farmers. You are coming to
01:14this position at a critical time. If confirmed, you will need to be a strong
01:18advocate for farmers and ranchers and for expanding markets in the face of what I
01:24consider, not speaking for everyone up here, but chaotic trade policy. Farming is
01:30the riskiest business there is. As we meet today, farmers in my state and across
01:35the country are eager to get into the fields to plant this year's crop. I saw
01:40this firsthand when I met with the Johnsons in Faribault County recently. They
01:45have to make business decisions right now to try to provide certainty. Can they
01:50break even, they've got input costs, they've got weather events, they've got an
01:54international market that is now completely uncertain because of these
01:58tariffs. They need markets to sell their product. 20% of what American farmers and
02:05ranchers produce goes outside of our country. There are so many customers now
02:10and potential customers. We have had three out of the last four years were record
02:15years for ag exports. My state is fourth in the nation for ag exports, so I know a
02:21little bit about this. But this reckless tariff policy right now is putting
02:25farmers' livelihoods in jeopardy and we continue, I know we all do, to hear about
02:31the negative impacts. What really bothers me about this is some of the big guys, the
02:36big companies, you know, Tim Cook can get into the White House, great, save the
02:40phones, but the soybean farmer in a little county in Minnesota doesn't have that
02:45phone number. Can't get into that meeting in Wall Street with the Treasury
02:50Secretary. So I'm just afraid that these smaller farmers and ranchers are going to
02:54be roadkill if this isn't resolved as soon as possible. The top three countries
02:59targeted for tariffs, Mexico, Canada, and China, are also our top three ag export
03:05markets and account for half of all US ag exports. We're already seeing
03:10retaliation and our farmers have said they want aid, not trade, and I do
03:14appreciate again you, Mr. Lindbergh, and our discussions about the need to make sure
03:19that we have export markets because there's so many opportunities out there
03:24and we need to get this settled as soon as possible. We're also considering your
03:29nomination, Mr. Westhill. This is a critically important position where you'll
03:35be tasked with ensuring that every farmer and every USDA employee is treated
03:39with the respect and fairness that they deserve. Historically, the USDA has not
03:44always done so, both for the farmers it serves and the federal workers dedicating
03:49their careers to public service. Despite progress made in recent years, we know
03:54there's more work to be done and this is particularly important as we see some of
03:59the actions from this administration. I appreciated our conversation very much and, as
04:05you know, I expressed concerns, some of which you'll hear today, about some of the
04:10ongoing issues with civil rights, but I do look forward to hearing from you today.
04:14Welcome you and your family to this committee room. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
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