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Sen. Stabenow: 'Agriculture is getting caught in a trade war'

In a 89 to 11 vote, the most votes a Senate Farm Bill has ever received, the comprehensive bill passed in the Senate. It's now up to the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on the measure.

KONKLIN, Mich - Senator Debbie Stabenow visited the Dietrich Family Orchards to announce a senate win for the 2018 Farm Bill. The tariffs imposed on imported and exported goods makes it a challenge for farmers and their crops.

"Agriculture is getting caught in the middle in a trade war that frankly didn't need to happen," Stabenow said.

Stabenow said this trade war is putting the U.S. in a chaotic and uncertain position.

"I support getting tough with China, but it needs to be done the right away. We need to have our allies with us. We don't need to be calling Canada a national security threat," Stabenow said.

The president is imposing hefty tariffs on our exported goods and China is fighting back, according to Professor Paul Isely from Grand Valley State University.

"The retaliatory tariffs are against a lot of agricultural pieces and automotive pieces and it's going to make it much harder for soybeans in particular to sell overseas," Isely said.

Stabenow said we're already starting to feel the consequences

"We're seeing other countries that have bought from us, they're now turning to other countries where they have more confidence that there will be stability," Stabenow said.

Isely said the real pain won't be felt for a couple of years.

"What it will do is it will make it more expensive for businesses and make it harder for them to compete," Isely said. "Essentially the government is picking losers and winners right now by making things more expensive for some, and less expensive for others."

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