A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Trump administration is considering a $10 billion bailout for soybean farmers. China spent over $12.5 billion on American soybeans last year, but it stopped buying after Trump put high tariffs on Chinese exports. Here to tell us how that's playing out in the American soybean market, we called up a Kentucky farmer. Caleb Ragland farms 4,000 acres of soybeans, corn and winter wheat. He's also president of the American Soybean Association.
So, Caleb, when we last spoke with you in April, you were very concerned about what another trade war with China would do to soybean farmers here. Let's revisit what you told us when we asked you how you wanted the Trump administration to approach a trade deal with China. Let's hear that.
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CALEB RAGLAND: We want him to get the best deal possible. If that means tariffs for a short term, fine. But we can't be in a tariff war for years on end because we'll die before then.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So, Caleb, the trade war with China is still ongoing. How are you doing?
RAGLAND: We're not doing well at all as an industry. We have zero sales on the books of this new crop to the Chinese, who are our biggest export customer historically. They have been the purchasers of more export tons than all of our other foreign customers combined in recent years and equate to about 25% of the whole U.S. crop. And right now, with them being a big zero in the purchase column, that's a five-alarm fire for our industry.
MARTÍNEZ: And so - but they are getting their soybean from somewhere else, though, right?
RAGLAND: The main supplier has been Brazil. They have jumped in. And Brazil has passed the U.S. as the No. 1 soy-producing country since the 2018 trade war, and they are now far ahead of us, unfortunately, in terms of production acres and in production tons.
MARTÍNEZ: I remember back in Trump's first term, American soybean farmers got $22 billion in aid, which was to soften the blow of Trump's trade war with China. Was that helpful back then? I know you'd probably rather have trade than aid, but was that helpful back then?
RAGLAND: It softens the blow, but it doesn't make us whole. It never shows up in time before the pain has already been felt. It'll take care of part of the problem, but it never makes it complete.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
RAGLAND: And it certainly never makes farmers profitable.
MARTÍNEZ: Do soybean farmers want a $10 billion government bailout?
RAGLAND: You know, what soybean farmers want more than anything is good opportunities within the market to be able to make a profit. Sometimes these short-term economic assistance packages and so forth are necessary when the government is unable to get out of its own way and has trade wars and things that cause roadblocks within that free market system, within that market-based approach. And unfortunately, that is the crossroads that we are at as an industry right now.
MARTÍNEZ: Caleb, you voted for Trump three times. What's the message you want to send to the administration right now?
RAGLAND: The message that I have for President Trump and the administration is, we need opportunities from the market. And tariffs and trade wars - they take away opportunity. We put tariffs on China. They have retaliated with 20% tariffs on our soybeans. That makes us uncompetitive compared to the Brazilian beans. When we have a level playing field, the American farmer wins. We are the best producers in the world. We have the best-quality products. The market wants our products. But we also have to be in the ballpark on the price side, and that is where we're out of balance right now. My challenge for the administration is to create a level playing field. Don't build barriers with tariffs and with trade wars. And give us the opportunity to win, and we will.
MARTÍNEZ: Caleb Ragland is a Kentucky farmer and president of the American Soybean Association. Caleb, thank you.
RAGLAND: Thank you, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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