OP-ED by Jim Farley
President Donald Trump scored Florida over 13 points in the 2024 election. With nearly 1.5 million more votes than Harris, it was the biggest victory the presidential candidate has won in decades. He won for a number of reasons, but I think one of the biggest reasons is that the Floridians know he is one of us. We have full faith in President Trump to make Florida great again. But there are dark storm clouds gathering in our beautiful state, and they need the full attention of Trump.
Soon after taking office, President Trump launched a campaign to restore fairness to the foreign trade system and regain work to America. Like the millions of Americans who voted for him, I help revive American manufacturing and create opportunities for marginalized working-class Americans. Previous presidents made a bad trade deal that allowed the country to take advantage of us, and someone had to change it. As a master negotiator and deal maker, I think Trump is the man of work.
At the same time, it was revealed that farmers like me in Florida would be caught up in the crossing of the trade war. Now that President Trump has placed 25% tariffs on everything that comes from Canada and Mexico, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has retaliated with 25% tariffs and targeted exports of his own and targeted products from “red states” like Florida. He encouraged Canadians to boycott Florida orange juice. We are clearly at the beginning of the trade war and Canada will return to where it hurts most.
Florida citrus growers and other farmers can’t afford to lose their customers and do not have any additional costs. The US is the largest supplier of citrus fruits to Canada and offers 60% of orange juice. Our biggest competitor, Brazilian orange juice, is usually inexpensive, but Canada still gets more citrus products from us. But what happens when Canada retaliates US tariffs with a 25% tariff on our citrus products? They are going to buy more from Brazil and suffer the consequences leaving us farmers. And what happens when tariffs force us to pay more for the fertilizer ingredients we primarily get from Canada? Our costs will rise, further reducing competition against foreign competitors.
Retaliation tariffs from our biggest trading partners will cause a lot of pain, as well as the economic uncertainty that trade wars create. As farmers, we deal with a lot of variables. We deal with hurricanes, freezes and drafts that affect crops in unpredictable ways. We must fight against invasive pests like the Asian citrus pyrids that have devastated the citrus industry in Florida. And despite all this, we must take out our loans and make other financial commitments months or years before we know what the market looks like. It is impossible to fully adapt to the rapidly evolving dynamics of trade wars.
Now President Trump is smart and I know he knows this. He probably talked with the farmers more than the other presidents and thought about ways to save us. His beautiful Mar-a-lago property is located in a county that leads everything in Florida to Palm Beach County with the total value of the produce sold. But that’s also why we are targets of trade wars. Canada, Mexico and China are planning to fight back where it hurts the most. So the industry in the states that are most loyal to Trump will be caught up in the crosshairs that include farmers here in Florida.
I have a faith that Trump will find other ways to restore fairness and balance in our international trade. He is a master negotiator and has always found ways to make deals that put America first. I am grateful for everything he has done for us and our country. I just want Trudeau to remember when he talks about retaliation against the “Red State.” More tariffs and escalating trade wars are not the answer. Jim Farley, a multi-generational cattle rancher in Clay County.
