A new television advertisement from the U.S. Apple Association and Farmers for Free Trade calls on President Trump to end the trade war and support free trade.
The television spot, featuring Mark Boyer, part-owner of Fishertown, Pa.-based Ridgetop Orchards, is filmed in an apple orchard and describes how current trade disputes are damaging export markets for American farmers, according to a news release.
“The U.S. apple industry does depend on exports,” Boyer says in the 30 second spot. “Without certainty in foreign markets, why would you invest in equipment, why would you invest in anything? The stakes are high. People will lose their jobs.”
The release said the ad will run online and on cable news channels including Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. The spot is the third in a series of Farmers for Free Trade spots that highlight the negative impacts of protectionist trade policies on farmers and rural communities, according to the release.
The ad reminds Trump of the ag community’s support for him and urges him to “end the trade war.”
Trump has put steel and aluminum tariffs in place this year against China, Mexico, Canada, the EU and other countries and those countries have wasted little time in hitting back against U.S. imports.
The ad runs after new retaliatory tariffs have been announced on American farm exports from key U.S. trading partners including Mexico, India, Canada, China, and the European Union.
“Our numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6th largest export markets are already impacted or threatened,” Jim Bair, U.S. Apple Association president and CEO said in the release. “That hurts not only growers but also thousands of affiliated jobs in small-town America. We need these disputes to get resolved amicably and quickly.”
The ad will help show the tariffs are already hurting American growers, said Brian Kuehl, executive director of Farmers for Free Trade.
“Let’s call it what is – this is a trade war that is impacting the livelihoods of American farmers. Farmers we work with are paying higher prices for their equipment because of the steel tariffs, have had contracts canceled, and have been hurt by falling commodity prices.”
