When the farmer gets hit, so does the corn seller, fertilizer seller, tractor sales office, and hardware store who depend on him for their business. It can hurt the income of the entire local community built up around them, slowing economic growth.
“There’s collateral damage,” said William Reinsch, Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the former president of the National Foreign Trade Council.
“If [a farmer] can’t unload his soybeans, he loses money. Then the bank loses money if he has trouble paying his loans. The tax base in his community suffers,” which can lead some communities to cut back on services like police, fire, and schools.
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