Friend --

During the first Trump Administration, China retaliated against tariffs by targeting American agriculture.
Plain and simple: farmers lost market share—and once you lose market share, it’s incredibly hard to win it back.

Now, history is repeating itself. Recently, John Deere—a cornerstone of Midwest manufacturing and agriculture—announced layoffs and is feeling the tariff pain. Why? Because these reckless tariffs are once again hitting American farmers hard. When farmers earn less, they buy less equipment, fewer supplies, and other local businesses suffer too. As the Chicago Tribune reported “Tariffs will cost the farm equipment maker $600 million this year” and surprise, surprise, the tariffs are “creating havoc in a farm sector that can’t function efficiently without advance planning.”

The Trump Administration should not claim to love farmers while pushing policies that punish them.

At Country First, we take pride in the work farmers do to feed the world. That’s why we reject policies that harm them—and why we oppose reckless tariffs that drive up costs for American families while hurting the backbone of rural America.  

One of our members, Jim, a farmer from Illinois, put it best:

“We in agriculture have not, and will never, recover from the counter-tariffs China imposed during Trump 1's tariff tiff, which chased China even faster to South America for soy and likely corn. These new tariffs will accentuate the pain, both on our export side, as well as drastically increasing prices of operations on the farm. And the uncertainty caused by Trump's techniques make it very difficult to plan anything. There’s a better way. Negotiate first. Build a strategy. Then, if necessary, apply targeted measures—not broad, chaotic tariff wars that devastate the very people you claim to support.”

Country First has taken the lead on highlighting the danger behind the Administration's reckless and Non-Strategic Tariffs and has put together resources highlighting the impact these non-strategic tariffs have on our democracy and economy.

It’s time for Washington to stop placating farmers with empty words and start standing with them with sound policies and not dangerous policies.  American agriculture feeds the world, and if we want to stay the leader in global markets, we need leaders who will help—not hurt—the men and women in our fields and farms.

Onward, 

The Country First Team
https://www.country1st.com/

PS: This is a defining moment in our nation's history. Will we stand for Freedom or appease an Authoritarian.  Recently, Country First released a first of its kind National Petition against Authoritarianism. If you haven't already, please sign.  If you have, please share with anyone you know who is ready to be part of a movement focused on making a real difference—not chasing headlines or viral videos. Join us now—there is strength in numbers!