GOP governor slams Trump: His trade war 'devastated' our state

Trump’s reckless, unnecessary trade war continues to wreak economic havoc nationwide — and even some red state governors have had enough.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said that Trump’s trade policies have been ruinous to her state’s economy.

“South Dakota has been devastated by the trade wars that are going on,” Noem told Politico. Agriculture is “by far” the largest industry in the state, she noted.

Trump’s trade war with China and Mexico has resulted in those countries levying retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports like soybeans and wheat, which has been especially hard on farmers.

In an economy that centers around agriculture, Noem said, what’s bad for farmers is also bad for “every main street business, everybody that has another entity out there that relies on a successful ag industry.”

She added that Trump’s policies are “driving a lot of family businesses out of business.”

South Dakota isn’t the only place where farmers are feeling the pain of Trump’s extended trade war. According to the Wall Street Journal, farmers in the Midwest are filing for bankruptcy at record rates.

And agriculture is not the only industry suffering from Trump’s poor choices. One analysis shows the United States could lose up to 2.2 million jobs over the next few years if Trump continues with his reckless policies and threats on trade.

The same analysis showed the trade war will cost the average family almost $2,400 per year, as a wide variety of everyday items become more expensive.

Unfortunately, the White House’s response is not reassuring.

“There are a heck of a lot of U.S. companies that have sales in China that are going to be watching their earnings being downgraded next year until we get a deal with China,” Kevin Hassett, who chairs Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, told CNN in January.

While she is unhappy at the moment about what Trump is doing to South Dakota, Noem hasn’t always been so critical of him. In fact, she was one of Trump’s most loyal enablers before she became governor. She spent the previous two years as a member of the House of Representatives, where she backed the Trump agenda more than 92 percent of the time.

Even as she complained about the suffering Trump has visited on her state, Noem could not stop herself from sticking up for Trump. She said that she thinks the United States has been treated unfairly in international trade, and that “they [the White House] recognize that and want to have better trade agreements.”

Yet in the end, farmers, businesses, and families are the ones being treated unfairly thanks to what Noem helped Trump sow.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.