On April 2, 2025, the Trump administration announced new “reciprocal tariffs” on imports from most trading partners, imposing a baseline 10 percent tariff on all countries, with higher rates for those with which the US has the largest trade deficits.
Nearly half (47 percent) of US agricultural exports in 2024 went to countries now facing reciprocal tariffs greater than 10 percent, making the agricultural sector particularly vulnerable to counterretaliation.
If trading partners retaliate as they did during the 2018?19 trade war, US farmers could face short-term losses (which may be compensated through government programs) and long-term market disruptions as importers shift to alternative suppliers.
The long-term consequences of trade wars on US agriculture remain concerning, as shown by how China permanently shifted soybean imports from the US to Brazil following the previous trade war, despite temporary government assistance to affected farmers.