{"id":18052,"date":"2018-09-05T11:36:01","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T06:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/jwt2015\/?p=18052"},"modified":"2018-09-05T11:36:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T06:36:01","slug":"how-the-trade-war-is-changing-minds-in-a-us-senate-battleground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/studykit\/currentaffairs\/daily-articles\/how-the-trade-war-is-changing-minds-in-a-us-senate-battleground\/","title":{"rendered":"How the trade war is changing minds in a US Senate battleground"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

NASHVILLE: Jimmy Tosh\u2019s sprawling hog farm in rural Tennessee is an unlikely battleground in the fight for control of the US Senate. Yet, his 15,000 acres, two hours west of Nashville, showcase the practical risks of President Donald Trump\u2019s trade policies and the political threat to red-state Republican Senate candidates such as Tennessee\u2019s Marsha Blackburn.<\/p>\n

Tosh, a third-generation farmer who almost always votes Republican, said he\u2019s voting this fall for Blackburn\u2019s Democratic opponent, former governor Phil Bredesen, in part because Trump\u2019s trade wars are hurting his family business a sizable one with some 400 employees and 30,000 pigs. The cost of steel needed for new barns is up, Tosh said, and the expanding pork market stands to suffer under new tariffs. \u201cThis tariff situation has got me very, very, very concerned,\u201d Tosh said. \u201cI just think Bredesen would be better on that situation.\u201d He said Blackburn has shifted \u201ctowards the centre\u201d on tariffs, \u201cbut in my opinion, it\u2019s a little late and not far enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

Similar concerns are roiling high-profile Senate contests in Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania and North Dakota and forcing Republican candidates to answer for the trade policies of a Republican president they have backed on almost every other major issue. In 2016, populist attacks against free trade defined Trump\u2019s political rise. Now, as he sparks an international trade war four months before the midterm elections, few policies could be more problematic for Trump\u2019s allies in pivotal Senate contests.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration imposed a 25 per cent tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday, and China is retaliating with taxes on an equal amount of US products, including soybeans, electric cars and pork. The administration has penalised steel and aluminum imports from allies such as Canada and Mexico, leading to retaliation against American-made products such as blue jeans, motorcycles and whiskey.<\/p>\n

The tension has reshaped the race to replace retiring Senator Bob Corker, Republican-Tennessee. Blackburn, an eight-term congresswoman, has been one of the president\u2019s biggest boosters for the past two years, yet with the business community up in arms, she\u2019s dramatically softened her support for Trump\u2019s trade policies, at least. \u201cWe fully appreciate that some of these countries have had a trade war against us for years, certainly China would be in that list, and it\u2019s time that somebody really stands up,\u201d Blackburn said. \u201cBut with that said, it does cause us tremendous concern, just grave concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Blackburn opposed a proposal by Corker that would have given Congress new authority to check the president\u2019s trade moves. She called Corker\u2019s approach \u201ca little bit too broad\u201d. Instead, Blackburn helped write a letter urging Trump\u2019s commerce secretary to reconsider broad tariffs so as to avoid harm to Tennessee\u2019s economy. An estimated $1.4 billion in Tennessee exports are threatened by Trump\u2019s trade moves, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, a longtime Republican ally. Those exports are linked to more than 850,000 jobs in the state related to farming, steel, baked goods, car manufacturing, whiskey and more.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, the US Chamber reported that $75 billion in US exports will soon be subject to retaliatory tariffs. Many of the hardest hit states are those that backed Trump and feature top-tier Senate races in November. Indiana, where Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun is trying to defeat Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly, has more than 812,000 jobs tied to global trade, the Chamber found. In April, Braun said concerns about the tariffs were being \u201coverdramatised\u201d.<\/p>\n

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, has pounded her Republican opponent, Josh Hawley, for backing Trump\u2019s trade decisions. Hawley, whose state has more than 826,000 jobs tied to global trade, says the president is right to shake up trade deals and should have time to negotiate. And in North Dakota, Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp has seized on Republican challenger Kevin Cramer\u2019s description of the tariff fallout as \u201chysteria\u201d. Cramer blames China for the trade dispute that could affect as many as 111,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Can only do harm\u2019<\/p>\n

But back in Tennessee, Blackburn has been backed into a corner by the state\u2019s business leaders. Tennessee whiskey maker Jack Daniel\u2019s, for example, sends roughly 60 per cent of its business out of the country. Jack Daniel\u2019s parent company was forced to increase prices across Europe as a result of tariffs imposed by the European Union in response to Trump\u2019s tariffs on US steel and aluminum. Shares of the company dropped sharply last month after Mexico announced plans to impose a 25 per cent tariff on whiskey in response to Trump\u2019s moves. \u201cTariffs such as these, they can only do harm,\u201d said Jack Daniel\u2019s general manager Larry Combs.<\/p>\n

Another major Tennessee employer, home appliance maker Electrolux, continues to delay a $250 million expansion in Tennessee \u201cgiven the uncertainty of US trade policy\u201d, said company spokeswoman Eloise Hale. \u201cThese tariffs are directly increasing our costs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Democrat in the Senate race, former governor Bredesen, has seized on the issue. Even in a state Trump won by 26 points, he\u2019s betting he can use Blackburn\u2019s loyalty to the president against her because of the tariff-related fallout. \u201cShe clearly is very loath to do anything contrary to what the Trump playbook is,\u201d Bredesen said. \u201cThe way I\u2019ve read her expression is, \u2018We elected Trump president. I\u2019m here to make sure he gets his agenda passed\u2019,\u201d Bredesen continued. \u201cWhat I would like to do is say, \u2018Look, I\u2019m there to be with the president on stuff that makes sense for Tennessee, to be against him on stuff that is not.\u2019 And that\u2019s true whether it\u2019s a D or an R president.\u201d Blackburn is eager to change the subject.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s quick to highlight her support for the Republican\u2019s tax cuts. And with a sudden Supreme Court vacancy that gives the Republican an opportunity to cement a conservative majority for a generation, she\u2019s emphasising the importance of having a Republican Senate majority to approve Trump\u2019s judicial appointments.<\/p>\n

But back at the hog farm, Tosh is worried about the family business. \u201cThe pork producers in the country are probably being impacted more so than any element of the economy right now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re probably going to scale back some plans that we had, at least put them on hold.\u201d\u2014AP<\/p>\n

By: Steve Peoples | Jonathan Mattise
\nSource: https:\/\/www.dawn.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASHVILLE: Jimmy Tosh\u2019s sprawling hog farm in rural Tennessee is an unlikely battleground in the fight for control of the US Senate. Yet, his 15,000 acres, two hours west of Nashville, showcase the practical risks of President Donald Trump\u2019s trade policies and the political threat to red-state Republican Senate candidates such as Tennessee\u2019s Marsha Blackburn. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":18049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5285],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18052"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jworldtimes.com\/old-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}