Across the U.S. rural voters have kept Republicans in office for years, and helped Donald Trump get the electoral votes he needed to become president. Persons living in rural areas, especially red states, many who consider themselves to be Christian fundamentalists and conservative Republicans, now worry that possible changes to U.S. trade policies that are being spearheaded by President Trump could destroy their livelihood. With Republicans firmly in control of all three branches of the federal government, farm and other rural policies may soon be changing in ways that could hurt those the party has wooed so steadfastly in order to continue to solidify their base.
KS and MO, along with other rural states fear Trump trade policies will hurt exports
Thousands of tons of wheat, soy beans, and milo sit in massive piles outside of Kansas grain elevators and under tarps to keep from rotting. In Nebraska, it's corn piling up. Successful Farming, an agricultural website, pointed out that farmers and grain handlers may be stuck with a bigger-than-expected portion of those stockpiles due to uncertainty in the commodities market policies that have the potential to upend exports. U.S. Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill recently pointed out that agriculture is the foundation of Missouri's economy, while Republican Governor Sam Brownback has long made the claim that Kansas farm income has already been struggling for several years.
Potential trade policies hinted at by President Trump and echoed by Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate, could add to their woes.
Make America Great Again pledge includes re-negotiating NAFTA and leaving the TPP
One of the first actions completed by President Donald Trump was to sign an executive order pulling the United States out of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Trump has also continued to state that he and Republicans in the U.S. Congress and Senate will begin re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as early as next week. Most Republicans also ran their re-election, or election, campaigns on the promise of either getting rid of NAFTA or rewriting it. With Mexico, Canada, and China being the largest importers of American grain and meat, along with other changes Republicans are making in science policies that will also affect U.S. agriculture, things are not looking good for rural America.
