On National Farmers Day, Senator Perdue Still Stands with Reckless Trade War That’s Threatening Georgia Farmers

Today is National Farmers Day, but instead of working to secure the future of Georgia’s family farmers, Senator David Perdue is marching in lockstep with a reckless trade agenda that threatens to devastate Georgia’s agricultural economy while his cousin admits there’s “no guarantee small farms will survive.”

“Senator Perdue’s reckless trade war is undermining Georgia’s farm economy and hurting hardworking families across our state,” said Maggie Chambers, spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “As Georgia farmers have paid the price for these irresponsible tariffs, Senator Perdue has dug in deeper, becoming a cheerleader for this harmful agenda and demonstrating yet again that he’s more concerned with earning points for party loyalty in Washington than putting Georgia first.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: David Perdue warms to Trump’s trade strategy

• When President Donald Trump was considering whether to slap tariffs on foreign-made steel and aluminum more than 18 months ago, Georgia U.S. Sen. David Perdue gingerly offered some of his only public criticism of his political ally to date.
• Perdue’s public comments, however, have become more forceful in support of Trump’s strategy as trade talks with China have dragged on.
• But the very companies he once led, Reebok and Dollar General, are either critics of the trade policy he now defends or have warned they will need to raise prices on their customers.
• Perdue’s stance has drawn the attention of several of his Democratic opponents, who argue he’s given up his credibility on business issues in exchange for Trump’s approval and is advocating for a hardline trade policy that’s causing harm to local consumers, farmers and businesses
• …local farmers who, already reeling from Hurricane Michael and years of low commodity prices, fear that their crop exports to China could be replaced by competitors like Brazil.

Read more about the risk Senator Perdue’s reckless trade war poses to Georgia’s family farmers and agricultural economy:

• Associated Press: Trump farm secretary: No guarantee small farms will survive
• CBS News: U.S. Agriculture Secretary: Family farms might not survive
• Newsweek: “farmers hit hard by tariffs and low prices were looking for a message of hope that the White House administration had their backs.  Instead, Perdue’s view that smaller producers were likely to go out of business at the expense of bigger producers left many who had travelled far and wide to attend the meeting feeling despondent”
• Georgia Public Broadcasting: “a trade war between the U.S. and China is harming farmers’ revenues”
• WFXG: “From the aftermath of Hurricane Michael to trade tariffs, the local agriculture community can’t seem to catch a break.”

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