Rep. Bacon says farmers 'already seeing an impact from tariffs,' calls for opening trade

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said farmers in his state and across the Midwest are “already seeing” the impacts of President Trump’s tariffs and called for the country to open agricultural trade with other countries to support the industry. 

Bacon joined NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” where host Blake Burman asked him about agricultural workers and how they are handling tariff impacts slowing trade. 

“Well, the [agriculture] community is very worried. If you talk to the Farm Bureau, the cattlemen … some of our biggest meat producers here are for beef, they’re already getting their markets shut off,” Bacon said. 

“We’re already seeing an impact on our exports in Nebraska, where we’ve lost market access in Europe primarily … particularly with our beef and popcorn and things like that,” he continued. “So, we are going into a recession in the Midwest farm community.” 

While there’s concern that Trump’s tariff plan will send the country into a recession, the president has expressed confidence that his agenda will help the country in the long term. He said “anything can happen” regarding a potential recession but thinks the economy will thrive later on. 

Republicans in Congress, like Bacon, are concerned that there is no outcome or exit plan for Trump’s trade war, which they say will hurt markets for wheat, corn, soybeans, pork and other U.S. products. 

Bacon noted that the imports of fertilizers and herbicides are being impacted by higher prices and barriers due to tariffs. He said farmers across the country are “really struggling right now” and they need relief from the tariffs or financial aid, like Trump implemented during his first administration. 

Still, Bacon said he thinks farmers would be better off if the administration opened trade doors instead of imposing tariffs at all. 

Burman asked Bacon about the timeline that he sees for farmers in his state to continue business under the tariffs. 

“We need to get this thing settled this summer or our farmers will be struggling,” Bacon replied. “We’ll be in a recession here in the Midwest.”