On April 2, President Donald Trump took bold and historic action to defend American industry with the announcement of sweeping new tariffs aimed at countering unfair foreign trade practices and reigniting U.S. manufacturing. Dubbed “Liberation Day”, this policy marks the first major step in a new era of economic revitalization—one where the United States refuses to accept the systematic dismantling of its industrial base and begins to chart a path back to true production-led prosperity.
In June 2022, the Biden administration introduced a two-year tariff moratorium, temporarily suspending import duties on solar cells and panels from four key Southeast Asian exporting nations—Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Agriculture has long been a key part of Iowa’s economy. But the state is now facing escalating trouble, including the loss of more than 26,000 family farms since 1982.
The evidence is clear: neither tariffs nor the surge of imports from trade liberalization have had a significant effect on inflation, positive or negative.
The study confirms that even President Trump’s most substantial tariff increases have a minimal impact on inflation, leading to a small total cumulative price increase, likely spread out over several years.
Decades of free trade agreements have led to a record $39 billion agricultural trade deficit in 2024, undermining the broader U.S. agricultural industry.
