On Thursday, September 3, the Maine Democratic Party hosted a virtual roundtable with State Representative Craig Hickman, Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra, and Maine dairy farmers to discuss how Trump’s trade war has hurt Maine farmers. Despite promising “the greatest” trade deals in American history when he ran for president four years ago, Trump’s failed trade war has milked Maine farmers dry.
You can watch a recording of the full event here or read excerpts from the participants below:
“Trump claims to be on the side of farmers, but we have to go by his record. And his record shows that folks like Spencer and Jenni and other dairy farmers have been hurt by his failed trade war,” said State Representative Craig Hickman. “I know what it’s like to farm in Maine, even at the smallest scale, and I can tell you that Democrats in Augusta have been and will continue to fight for farmers, and when we send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House, they’ll fight for Maine farmers too.”
“We have seen a lot of impact from the trade war. We used to have a reputation as a reliable supplier that could provide products to China and other countries on a steady basis. With the tariffs, we’ve become an unreliable supplier in many ways. The market has broadened and it’s unlikely to ever return to the single source that we had before. Our great investment that we made to develop that market as dairy farmers has blown away,” said Spencer Aitel, a dairy farmer from China, Maine. “We aren’t really sure what the future lies in organic milk, but I know with conventional milk, the whipsaw of prices has been horrific.”
“Over the past two years, [our] export business has been decimated [...] And while that would be something we could handle, it weakened us so much that when we entered this black swan event — the COVID-19 crisis — it has made it difficult for us to continue our work,” said Jenni Tilton-Flood, a dairy farmer from Clinton, Maine. “We are the economic engines of Maine’s rural landscape […] When our trade business, which is part of our diversified portfolio, is hindered because of policies that work against us—benefitting entities that aren’t us—that weakens our ability to provide a resilient food system.”
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