Trade, Tariffs, and Soybeans
Trump has consistently claimed that exporters, those countries who are “ripping us off,” are paying the tariffs. However, the actual data tell a different story.
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President Bush flew to Brazil in March, checking up on ethanol exports that will complement his plan to up U.S. biofuel production to 35 billion gallons a year. Brazilian activists aren't so enthusiastic, reports Earth First! magazine. Upon Dubya’s arrival, 900 women took over a Cargill ethanol plant in the Ribeirão Preto region. The protesters argue that ethanol production means clearing the Amazon rainforest to make room for monoculture farming, running fuel-thirsty equipment to cultivate the corn, spraying toxic pesticides to raise the corn, and burning more fossil fuels to distill it—ultimately using three units of energy for every four created. Increased corn production for biofuel has also raised the price of corn, resulting in tens of thousands rallying in the streets of Mexico to protest increased prices of tortillas (see "Supply, Demand, and Tortillas" in our Spring 2007 issue).