Farm Belt states squeezed by Trump policies may spell trouble for the GOP in November - Entrepreneur Generations

Though President Trump is more popular in Farm Belt states than in the nation overall, his approval rating has fallen there as well because of the trade war with China and the administration's failure to adequately boost corn-based ethanol. That may hurt Republican party candidates in November, Jarrett Renshaw reports for Reuters.

In Iowa, the first state to vote in the primaries, Republican governor Kim Reynolds told Renshaw that "the anxiety is starting to escalate. They are willing to give him some more time, but the window is closing and they have to see some movement somewhere to alleviate the pressure."

Farmers are getting squeezed from several directions because of Trump policies: tariffs on metal and aluminum have increased the price of farming equipment, and the tariffs China slapped on products such as hogs, corn and soybeans have caused farm export prices to drop. Iowa is the nation's top exporter of corn and pork, and the second-highest exporter of soybeans; it's also the top producer of corn-based ethanol.

"Refiners are required by law to blend 15 billion gallons of biofuels yearly into the fuel supply, but the government has not increased that level for several years, causing domestic ethanol demand to flatline. To increase demand, farmers have asked Washington to rescind a ban on selling E15, a gasoline with higher levels of ethanol, in the summer, Renshaw reports. "That has not happened yet. Instead, over the last year, the industry has become embroiled in a related dispute with Washington. The White House has become more aggressive than the Obama administration in granting numerous requests from refiners seeking relief from having to blend, or pay for, the cost of adding biofuels to the nation's fuel supply. That undercuts demand for ethanol, farmers say."


from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2MJqar4 Farm Belt states squeezed by Trump policies may spell trouble for the GOP in November - Entrepreneur Generations

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