Last week, Tariffs Hurt the Heartland hosted a virtual roundtable discussion featuring North Carolina farmers, business owners and manufacturers that are being negatively impacted by President Trump’s trade war with China.
Leaders across many industries shared how the elimination of tariffs would help their businesses navigate and survive the complexities of the market, especially now in the midst of COVID-19. Sean Brownlee, CEO of Ravenox said:
“Knowing that as a small business we have spent over $150,000 on tariffs, we are not able to hire [more] employees like we would want to. And I know a number of other U.S. based manufacturers that are facing the same problem.”
Dr. John Boyd, President of the Black Farmers Association, spoke to the significant impact tariffs are having on farmers across the country:
“This is a very troubling time in our country. The impact of the China trade war has been devastating for small scale farmers and African American farmers.”
North Carolinians have paid over $1.4 billion in additional taxes because of the trade war. What’s worse, tariffs could cost 63,500 jobs in North Carolina — farmer bankruptcies have already risen 33 percent.
“The financial impact [of tariffs] has been very stressful for us, as over the past year we have spent close to a million dollars. We are a small business and these tariffs are really cutting into our reserves and margins,” said Green Sprouts Founder and President Becky Cannon.As noted in RedState.com, President Trump’s tariffs have created an undue burden on the most vulnerable sectors of our economy, and Americans are starting to take notice. Now is the time to end tariffs.