WASHINGTON – House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s latest tariff increases:

“The Trump Administration’s decision to once again raise tariffs on Chinese goods does nothing but use our farmers as political pawns and further ourselves from a real solution. While I understand that the President believes he has good intentions on this, he’s doing it without understanding the impacts this has on farmers and our rural communities. Farmers don’t set the prices they receive, and every action causes a reaction in the market, leaving them subject to every word uttered or tweet sent. As the margins have tightened in rural America, we’ve heard those same farmers sound the alarm bells over and over again, and now they’re bracing for even more bad market news. With the upcoming negotiations set to take place, I hope that we can bring an end to this."