Tariffs have good and bad consequences

Tariffs are a tricky business that bring with them some intended and unintended consequences.

 Farmers in the Midwest are not selling soybeans to China like they used to. In a tit for tat move, the Chinese are buying soybeans elsewhere and boycotting the U.S. in retaliation for stiff tariffs imposed on Chinese imports.

 President Trump spoke to farmers this week in New Orleans at the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. 

 He told the farmers that he’s fighting for them and fixing trade deals that are unfair to the U.S. Hang in there, he said, things will get better.

 I’m no Ben Bernanke, but I think I understand the goal of tariffs – protection for U.S. producers and manufacturers in the face of cheaper imports.

  It’s just that it can be painful for some in trying to level the import playing field by adding tariffs.

 I haven’t heard of local farmers getting hurt by tariff retaliation by China. I don’t think we sell that many sweet yellow onions to the Chinese. They are mostly consumed in a domestic market, and so are other crops, like sugarbeets.

 European countries have some of the stiffest tariffs on imported goods. They do it to protect their farmers, who simply can’t compete with low cost production in other parts of the world. 

 We all want the cheapest prices, but at what cost? If everything is made somewhere else, what do we make? Imports from China already fill the shelves at Walmart. Do we want everything at the grocery store imported as well because it can be grown cheaper somewhere else? I don’t.

 We used to hear about the “Made in the USA” label. It was a marketing slogan, for sure, but it also reminded you of that there are industries and workers behind those products. 

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 I couldn’t help but chuckle at Oregon’s new law that allows residents to salvage meat from animals run over on  the state’s roads and highways.

 It’s a sensible law. Allowing meat to be harvested and eaten is better than letting it go to waste. And Oregon is not the only state with a roadkill law. There are 20 other states that allow harvesting of dead deer and elk.

 Of course, there had to be some rules on regulations on when and where an animal can be salvaged lest anyone get any crazy ideas. 

 It is against the law to swerve off the road at 70 miles per hour to intentionally hit a deer for dinner. Besides, the damage to a vehicle would outweigh the benefit of getting the steaks, anyway.

 Drivers will be required to submit an application for a permit to fish and game officials. They also will be required to submit animal heads and antlers to state fish and game officials within five days.  

 Anybody who eats a salvaged animal does so at their own risk, the law states. I think “fresh” is key here.

 Maybe it’s the word “roadkill” that sounds less than appetizing. The law is intended to make use of deer and elk that are hit and killed by the roadside. 

 I suppose, though, that other critters are edible as well, depending on one’s tastes. Does anyone know of a good recipe for badger gumbo, possum pie or jackrabbit ala king?

 Steve Lyon is the editor of the Weiser Signal American. Contact him at scoop@signalamerican.com.