By CATRINA BARKER

Illinois Radio Network

(IRN) — Illinois farmers are feeling the immediate effects of tariffs impacting soybean exports, but an agricultural expert says many believe these measures could help restore America’s competitiveness in the global market.

Samuel Karnick of The Heartland Institute explained that while Illinois farmers had mostly finalized planting before tariffs hit, they worried about market demand amid trade disputes.

Although quick negotiations lowered tariffs and eased some damage, Karnick noted a bigger issue: China has been buying more soybeans from Brazil for years, shrinking the market for U.S. farmers.

“That obviously puts pressure on U.S. soybean growers, because it reduces the market size they’re sending to, and if they send the same amount, then that’s going to reduce the price,” said Karnick. “They will probably either have to ensure that the White House goes ahead and gets China on board with U.S. soybean exports, or they’re going to have to ship other crops.”

Karnick explained tariffs can help farmers if they lead to better trade deals. He added that the high demand for U.S. dollars makes American goods less attractive, so lowering that demand could boost U.S. farm exports.

“What happens is the high demand for U.S. dollars makes American exports less attractive because people prefer holding dollars over buying our goods. At the same time, it makes imports into the U.S. more appealing to Americans,” Karnick said. “Because of this, there’s pressure limiting how much we can export. What President [Donald] Trump is doing is negotiating with other countries to lower the value of the dollar slightly. By reducing demand for dollars, it will actually benefit U.S. exporters.”

Karnick explained that farmers must make critical planting decisions once a year and then live with the consequences, even as markets fluctuate throughout the season.

“You have one time of year when you have to make all your choices and put all your eggs in one basket,” he said. “And the market can change during the course of a year.”

He emphasized the importance of diversifying export markets to provide farmers with more stability.

“If you have 100 countries importing a lot of corn from the U.S., and one imports less this year, others may import more,” Karnick noted. “Expanding trade beyond just China to many countries could be very beneficial. The challenge is making those trade deals and ensuring they go through. We haven’t tried this before. It’s new, but better than doing nothing.”