Vilsack: Trump overpromised, underdelivered for Iowa farmers

DAVENPORT — Iowa’s former Democratic governor Tom Vilsack says President Donald Trump overpromised and underdelivered for Iowa farmers impacted by a U.S.-Chinese trade war.

Vilsack also claimed Trump has failed to keep Americans safe and the U.S. economy strong amid a worsening global pandemic that’s ravaged Iowa communities now struggling to rebuild from an inland hurricane and said the administration is undermining Iowa’s biofuels industry by granting waivers to oil refiners, exempting them from a federal mandate outlining how many gallons of ethanol and biodiesel they must blend into the nation’s fuel supply each year.

“(Trump) contended he was going to provide the best trade deals possible for farmers,” Vilsack told reporters Wednesday. “The reality is he went against China alone (and) didn’t take the time to develop an alliance of nations being similarly situated and mistreated by the Chinese.”

That resulted in retaliatory tariffs from China on U.S. farm products, steel and aluminum that drastically lowered U.S. corn and soybean exports, increased equipment costs and created crop surpluses that drove down commodity prices.

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