‘You stayed in the fight’: Trump hails farmers for trade war help

US president promises farmers that China trade deal will be good for them, as he seeks their support ahead of election.

The phase one trade deal signed by China and the US last week included a pledge by China to buy at least an additional $12.5bn worth of agricultural goods in 2020 and at least $19.5bn over the 2017 level of $24bn in 2021 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]

President Donald Trump has sought to assure farmers and ranchers in the United States hit by a protracted tariff  war with China that a trade agreement he signed with Beijing will lead to significant purchases of US agricultural products.

Trump’s remarks in Texas, a state he won in 2016 and will need again in November’s election, had all the hallmarks of a political stump speech, with a stab at Democrats trying to remove him through impeachment and a wish he could wear a cowboy hat in Washington, DC.

He began his remarks to the annual American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Austin by waving a copy of a Farm Journal poll that said he had wide support among farmers and ranchers.

Trump said the initial trade deal he signed with China last Wednesday would help farmers, whom he thanked for sticking with him after he twice had to allocate multibillion-dollar bailouts for producers targeted by Chinese tariffs.

“You stayed in the fight,” said Trump. “You were always with me. You never even thought of giving up and we got it done.”

His Senate impeachment trial is set to begin in earnest on Tuesday.

“By these radical-left lunatics I get impeached. But that’s OK, the farmers are sticking with Trump,” he said.

The phase one trade deal with China was meant to reduce tensions after 18 months of a tit-for-tat tariff war between the world’s two largest economies that has hit global growth.

It included a pledge by China to buy at least an additional $12.5bn worth of agricultural goods in 2020 and at least $19.5bn over the 2017 level of $24bn in 2021.

Analysts have said a number of issues remain unresolved. The phase one agreement will leave in place 25 percent tariffs on $250bn of Chinese industrial goods and components used by US manufacturers, and China’s retaliatory tariffs on over $100bn in US goods.

Trump told the farmers he would vigorously enforce the trade deal to make sure China holds up its side of the agreement.

“I think it’s going to work out and I think China is going all out to prove that the agreement that we signed is a good agreement,” he said.

Trump also reminded the farmers that he had gained passage by Congress of a new trade deal among the US, Mexico and Canada that will replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. He said he would sign the deal soon, probably in a White House ceremony.