Earlier this week, the Chinese government threatened to put a 25-percent tariff on several US imported goods.

Some of those goods include corn, pork and soybeans. Rippey farmer and former US Soybean Export Council Chair Roy Bardole tells Raccoon Valley Radio that even though the tariffs haven’t been officially put in place, there’s already been some initial impact. Soybeans initially collapsed by a $0.50 margin at the open of Wednesday’s stock market trading, but then rebounded by half at close. He points out that about one-quarter of US soybeans are exported to China, while another half of the crop are shipped to other countries. Bardole says when someone tries to mettle with one-quarter of the country’s soybeans exports, people get nervous and the stock market reacts to emotion.

He adds that if China puts tariffs on US pork, corn, soybean and ethanol, it’s like you’re cutting the heart out of Iowa. Bardole says it’s hard to watch our government use US production as leverage on the world stage. He believes that it makes it hard for a worker in the US to live a pleasant life at or just above minimum wage, when a worker in another country can get by on a $1 per hour wage.

Bardole notes that the window of time is closing for the US to ship it’s soybean crop before South America’s soybeans come onto the market. However Bardole says China is adamant that they need to continue to feed their population and to have a steady form of protein, like soybeans. He hopes the American government can resolve this issue with China in a positive way within a month.