Farmer on Trump tariffs: ‘We’re in a free fall out here’

A farmer in Ohio who voted for President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S.’s escalating trade war with China has left farmers in a “free fall” as profits drop sharply.

In an interview with CNN, Christopher Gibbs said that his farm and others like it were suffering amid the president’s continued pressure on Chinese imports and China’s retaliatory measures against U.S. exports.

{mosads}“We’re in a free fall out here in agriculture. We’ve seen a 30 percent decrease in prices of soybeans, and this isn’t all about soybeans,” Gibbs said.

“With the geopolitical turmoil that the president has thrown into the mix over the last year, the markets just don’t have anywhere to go,” he added.

Gibbs said rhetoric from the White House and GOP allies of the president thanking “patriot farmers” for bearing the brunt of the burden imposed by the tariffs was cheap rhetoric meant to silence farmers from criticizing the Trump administration.

That rhetoric, Gibbs said, is “just a design to make me continue to be quiet. And I’m not going to be quiet.”

“We’re in a free-fall out here.”

This Ohio farmer voted for President Trump. He now says the President’s comments about farmers being “patriots” during a trade war are “just a design to make me continue to be quiet. And I’m not going to be quiet.” https://t.co/7nA4p5pjEf pic.twitter.com/naTUHpSEF1

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) May 15, 2019

In tweets Tuesday, the president pledged that “Patriot Farmers” such as Gibbs would end up being the biggest winners in the trade dispute with China, promising that the government would be “making up the difference” to U.S. farmers.

“Our great Patriot Farmers will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening now,” Trump tweeted. “Hopefully China will do us the honor of continuing to buy our great farm product, the best, but if not your Country will be making up the difference based on a very high China buy.”

“This money will come from the massive Tariffs being paid to the United States for allowing China, and others, to do business with us,” he added. “The Farmers have been ‘forgotten’ for many years. Their time is now!”