On Oct 28, Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, joined Rep. David Rouzer, R-CD07, in leading a bipartisan effort in Congress to urge President Donald Trump to prioritize flue-cured tobacco in his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China is the leading international purchaser of American flue-cured tobacco. Farmers were recently notified that China will not buy flue-cured tobacco from the 2025 crop, a move widely seen as an attempt to gain leverage in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. This decision leaves approximately 65 million pounds of tobacco without a buyer, resulting in an estimated $220 million in lost export value.
“Chinese buyers have delayed or refused to pay for purchased 2024 tobacco leaf, including the refusal of shipments from earlier this year,” wrote lawmakers. “The impact on rural communities will be devastating, forcing growers out of tobacco production and threatening the stability of other crops, which depend on tobacco revenues to keep production going. Global competitors such as Brazil and India will quickly fill the gap, displacing U.S. farmers. We urge you to remedy China’s trade practices and ensure our growers maintain this important market.”
The letter uses data to demonstrate how the 2018 tariffs administered by Trump impacted US tobacco exports.
“In 2017, the U.S. exported more than 62 million pounds of flue-cured tobacco to China,” continued lawmakers. “By 2019, that number collapsed to 513,000 pounds. When access to foreign markets disappears, relief programs become the only lifeline on which farmers can rely on.”
Lawmakers emphasized the need for “fair compensation commensurate with the aid provided to other crops,” according to the letter, asserting that rural communities lacking fair compensation” could be “left behind without any way to recover.”
Lawmakers urged Trump to coordinate with his administration to guarantee that flue-cured tobacco farmers would be eligible for any “upcoming trade relief program.”
In an Oct 1 Truth Social Post, Trump committed to prioritizing soybeans in his meeting with Jinping.
China is the world’s leading international buyer of soybeans, as well as tobacco. Tobacco farmers deserve appropriate consideration in these critical meetings.
In the letter, lawmakers reminded Trump that rural American voters supported him for many reasons, including his commitment to stand with farmers and rural businesses against unfair trade practices. They requested that he provide stability for tobacco farmers by ensuring that flue-cured tobacco receives fair treatment in trade negotiations with China and all other countries.
Lawmakers also urged him to ensure that any future relief programs include flexibility to assist tobacco growers, to minimize the importation of cheap, foreign-grown tobacco that undermines our farmers, and to work with his administration to promote the US tobacco leaf to the fullest extent allowed by the Doggett Amendment. Historically, the amendment has limited access to international markets for tobacco farmers.
Co-signers on the letter include Sens. Thom Tillis, R-NC, and Lindsey Graham, R-SC, as well as Reps. Don Davis, D-CD01, Chuck Edwards, R-CD11, Virginia Foxx, R-CD05, Pat Harrigan, R-CD10, Mark Harris, R-CD08, Richard Hudson, R-CD09, Brad Knott, R-CD13, Addison McDowell, R-CD06, Tim Moore, R-CD14, Greg Murphy, R-CD03, H. Griffith, R-VA09, Jennifer Kiggans, R-VA02, John McGuire, R-VA05, Russell Fry, R-SC07.
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