Rollins Says USDA Will Help Farmers Burdened by Tariffs
Published: Friday, January 31, 2025
The following is from Ryan Hanrahan, farm policy news editor for the University of Illinois.
Progressive Farmer's Chris Clayton reported that "agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins told senators on Thursday (Jan. 23) that USDA would be prepared to again provide aid to farmers if they face retaliatory tariffs as President Donald Trump implements his trade policies."
"Despite concerns about farmworkers being deported, Rollins also told senators she supports Trump's border and mass-deportation policies, but said she is willing to work with the Department of Labor and Congress to reform the H-2A migrant-labor program," Clayton reported. "Rollins' confirmation hearing with the Senate Agriculture Committee was congenial and bipartisan, but senators raised concerns about the potential impacts of Trump's policies, especially around tariffs and labor. Some senators also pushed to ensure Rollins would support biofuel policies. In nearly every issue raised, Rollins had a positive response. At one point, Rollins said people have called her a 'pathological optimist.'"
"A native Texan, Rollins was an adviser for Trump's economic policies in his first term and gained more influence in Trump's world as founder and CEO of the America First Policy Institute," Clayton reported. "Coming out of the hearing, it's hard to see Rollins not gaining broad, bipartisan support for a quick confirmation vote before the full Senate."
Agri-Pulse's Philip Brasher, Lydia Johnson and Rebekah Alvey reported that "Rollins told committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) she has already spoken with former Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue several times about USDA's response to the trade war with China that resulted from the first Trump administration's increased tariffs."
"Rollins said the department would be 'prepared to execute something similar' and pledged that she would be 'working with the White House to ensure that we can close those holes for our farmers and ranchers moving forward under any sort of tariff execution in the next coming days, in the next few years,'" Brasher, Johnson and Alvey reported.
"'Regarding the president's tariff agenda, I think it probably comes as no surprise to anyone sitting in this room that he believes it is a very important tool in his tool kit to bring America back to the forefront of the world and to ensure that we have a thriving economy. But just as he did and we did in the first administration, he also understands the potential devastating impact to our farmers and our ranchers,' Rollins said."
Bloomberg's Ilena Peng and Kim Chipman reported last Thursday that "Brooke Rollins, a Texas native who's Trump's choice for U.S. secretary of agriculture, vowed in her confirmation hearing to 'elevate and honor all sources of fuel.' She said she looks forward to continuing Trump's 'current energy dominance plan,' of which biofuels is an 'important piece.'"
Brasher, Johnson and Alvey reported that "the committee's top Democrat, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, pressed Rollins on her background at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a free-market think tank she once led, and how she would continue to promote biofuels. The foundation promoted fossil fuels and criticized federal ethanol policy."
"Rollins pointed out that the reports from TPPF against ethanol were not authored by her and came out decades ago," Brasher, Johnson and Alvey reported. "She said coming from Texas, she has been a long-time defender of fossil fuels, but it's important to support all sources of fuel and noted that Trump listed biofuels as part of his energy dominance plan."
Bloomberg's Ilena Peng reported that "Brooke Rollins, Donald Trump's nominee for agriculture secretary, supports the president's plan of 'a mass deportation at a scale that matters,' a move that could hurt US farmers who are heavily reliant on foreign labor."
"'That is my commitment, is to help President Trump deploy his agenda in an effective way while at the same time defending, if confirmed secretary of agriculture, our farmers and ranchers across this country,' Rollins said at her confirmation hearing," according to Peng's reporting. "Trump has promised the biggest deportations in U.S. history. That could increase labor costs for farmers, who rely heavily on both documented and undocumented immigrant workers, and inflate food prices for consumers. More than 40% of U.S. crop farmworkers were undocumented from 2020 to 2022, according to the US Department of Agriculture."
"Rollins said she knows her job, if confirmed, will be to ensure that the president understands what deportations mean to the agriculture community," Peng reported. "'I believe sincerely that he will execute his agenda that he has promised the American people, but that will never forget our ag community in so doing,' she said."
"Rollins also said she will work with the secretary of labor to 'reform and perhaps modernize' the H-2A visa for temporary farmworkers," Peng reported. "Agricultural trade groups have pushed for an expansion of the program, which U.S. farmers have become increasingly reliant on in recent years."
Politico's Marcia Brown and Grace Yarrow reported that "senators had a bipartisan ask of Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins at her confirmation hearing Thursday morning: get us 'back in the trade business,' in the words of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)."
"Added Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), 'We're counting on you to be that advocate,' for the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on foreign export markets, but has been hampered by a strong U.S. dollar, competition from Brazil and other economic challenges. Republicans also
blame former President Biden's refusal to negotiate new trade deals to open up more export markets for farm products," Brown and Yarrow reported. "But farmers also faced stiff headwinds on trade during the first Trump administration, when his trade policies triggered in-kind foreign tariffs on U.S. agriculture."
"Rollins sought to reassure lawmakers. 'I sincerely believe that if I do my job,' USDA will be able to help 'bring in new trade partners, to expand access for new trade products and for all, whether it's specialty crops or the row crops or the livestock industry,'" Brown and Yarrow reported.
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