By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Monday he did not think farmers would fare well through a prolonged trade war.
Moran spoke to the Hays Noon Rotary on Monday.
"The longer this trade battle goes, the more difficult it is for there to be a future for the farm."
Moran said he favors a free market.
Moran said his aim as a congressman is to make sure rural America has a future.
"I want my hometown to be around," said Moran, who is a native of Plainville and a 30-year resident of Hays. "I want your hometowns to be around."
He said as costs increase, it becomes more difficult for rural businesses to make it.
"I use LaCrosse as my example," he said. " How many more hammers can the hardware store in LaCrosse sell when the price of something goes up, tariffs, for example, but also taxes, insurance, workers' compensation premiums and health care.
He said he had represented the First Congressional District in Kansas for years, where there was no growth.
"How can the hardware store in LaCrosse sell when the price of a hammer goes up, and your population is declining?" Moran said.
Agriculture determines so much of success in Kansas communities, he said.
"Not everyone who lives in Hays is a farmer or rancher, but I don't think there is anyone in this room who is not impacted when agriculture is doing poorly," Moran said. ...
"Agriculture determines if our hometowns have a future," he said. ... "Right now, agriculture is in terrible condition. In my experience, this is as bad as it has been during my time in office."
Input prices are high and commodity prices are low.
He said President Trump wanted to lower cattle prices, but livestock is the only sector of agriculture that is doing well now.
Because of tariffs, China and other countries have left the U.S. markets and are buying from Brazil. He said he heard on the ag report Monday morning that the weather in Brazil will determine wheat prices.
"We are now dependent on the weather of other countries rather than the markets of our own," he said.
"I don't know how you ever fill the gap of China buying corn, soy beans and grain sorghum," Moran said.
He added, "A trade war reduces the stability and the certainty of those markets. ... "Once you lose a customer, how do you get them back?"
Moran said if President Trump could negotiate some easing of tariffs on U.S. goods imposed by other countries, that would be a good outcome.
However, he said a prolonged trade war will be very difficult for farmers.
Despite this hardship, Moran said most American farmers he spoke with said they still support Trump.
"Most of my farmers in Kansas give President Trump the benefit of the doubt on this and see that they are going to get something better at the end of the day, and they are willing to put up with the pain," Moran said.
"In the meantime, they want money to survive the pain."
President Trump announced in early December that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would make $12 billion in one-time bridge payments to American farmers in response to temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs.
Farmers who qualify for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program can expect payments to be released by Feb. 28.
Moran said he sponsored a bill requiring Congressional approval to impose tariffs. President Trump has been operating under emergency executive power. The U.S. Supreme Court is still considering whether he can do so.
National security
Sen. Moran serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
SEE RELATED STORY: Trump issues new warning to Iran of future U.S. strikes
Moran was asked about his level of concern over Pezeshkian's declaration.
"I think we need to be seriously concerned with Iran and its capabilities," he said. "We have demonstrated some of our own, as has Israel.
"Iran is unpredictable and dangerous. The question is, what can you do about it?"
He said he hopes this is just rhetoric.
"It's not just about armies and navies and air forces, it's the capability of an individual or people being able to kill other individuals or groups of people in terrorism," Moran said. "They have great capabilities to do us damage.
"Everything we can do to contain them is important for us to do."
He also said he thought Russia had been the aggressor in Ukraine and should be kept from that aggression.
He said the outcome of the war should discourage others from thinking they could invade another country, or that Russia could invade an additional country.