WRAL News spoke with North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler on Monday about the impact he sees for state food producers from President Trump's tariffs.

Troxler says tariffs on international trade are so complicated that it can be difficult to get a handle on what will happen.

Other WRAL Top Stories

“What we did was went in and charge other countries about half of what their tariffs on us are. For example, China was about 67 percent, and we charged 34 percent on them, and then they turned around the put another tariffs on us," the commissioner said. 

Troxler says tariffs are all about negotiation, whether it be short term or long term.

“Hopefully, these tariffs will give us a better place to negotiate from, and we will be able to come up with something that’s much more favorable to the United States," he said.

While North Carolina is known for exports of tobacco, pork, poultry and wood products, Troxler pointed out that since 2019, the state has imported more agricultural products than it exported. 

Tariffs on agricultural products coming into the state are probably going to result in higher prices, at least short term, Troxler said.

He also pointed to the disparity in labor costs. In North Carolina, agriculture workers can make as much in one hour as some countries pay for a full day. That puts the United States at a disadvantage in selling labor-intensive agriculture products.

Side agreements with Canada and Mexico further complicate matters.

Additional tariffs could also push up the price that North Carolina farmers pay for equipment. Tariffs on steel and aluminum mean it costs more to make tractors, Troxler said.

The timing of Trump's tariffs comes at an especially vulnerable time for North Carolina agriculture. 

“We lost about $5 billion in agriculture last year in North Carolina," he said, citing damage to proerty and equipment from natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, droughts and wildfires.

The State Department of Agriculture has $311 million available to producers who suffered losses due to one or more of those disasters. The disaster assistance hotline is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-866-645-9403. Producers can also apply online for help.