During his first term in office, President Donald Trump's policies were costly to American taxpayers and harmful to American farmers.
Trump's tariffs upon imports inevitably led to counter-tariffs upon U.S. exports. In one example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that American farmers saw sales reduced by $27 billion over 18 months of Trump's tariffs; the first Trump administration opted to make taxpayers foot much of the bill, increasing federal subsidies for farmers from $4 billion in 2017 to $20 billion by 2020.
Despite that costly failure, the second Trump administration has doubled down on harmful policies. He has expanded or threatened to expand tariffs on imports - -- costs that get passed along to U.S. consumers -- and has triggered counter-tariffs that further stress farmers. On top of that, he has aggressively pursued efforts to deport illegal immigrants and has rolled back efforts to mitigate climate change -- policies that inordinately impact agriculture.
According to Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center, more than 1.2 million immigrants left the labor force from January through July. Some of them were deported; some left the United States voluntarily; some stopped seeking employment out of fear of immigration raids. According to Pew, approximately 45 percent of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants.