On a conference call Wednesday afternoon Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley talked to members of the Iowa press about a wide range of issues. He expressed concerns about the effects of tariffs on the ag industry and disappointment that there will likely be no new farm bill during the lame-duck session this year.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I wanted to find out how the policies of a second trump administration may impact the economy for neighbors in rural Iowa so I joined Sen. Chuck Grassley's Wednesday press conference.
I'm Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel working today in Logan.
Before the election, the National Corn Growers Association released a study warning that increased tariffs could result in a trade war. Losers in that trade war — economists believe — would be soy and corn growers.
Grassley weighed in, mentioning that the Biden administration kept some of the Trump tariffs in place.
"You have to consider that, in those instances, usually the country we put those tariffs on retaliates against agriculture and that's harmful to American agriculture, in particular, Iowa being the number one agricultural state in the nation," Grassley said.
He is not optimistic about getting a new farm bill this year even though Grassley would like to see it happen.
"I think we're going to have a one-year extension of the existing farm bill," the senator said.
The previous one expired in 2018 and it's been extended year-to-year since then instead of passing a new five-year bill.
When I spoke with the president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Brent Johnson last year he hoped Congress would have a new bill in place by now.
"Agriculture doesn't shut down, the calendar doesn't stop, the production year doesn't stop so we really need that piece to get moved forward," Johnson said last year.
Grassley also mentioned bringing down prescription drug prices as something he'd like to see the Senate tackle during this lame-duck session as well as rural healthcare needs.
