Eight Congress members from California express concerns to US-China trade disputes

LOS ANGELES - Eight US Congress members from California wrote a letter to the Trump administration, calling on the White House to replace its tariffs policy against China to a "strategic" approach to deal with the disputes.

According to a Tuesday report of the Sierra Sun Times, a newspaper contributed in California's agriculture-thriving Central Valley region, the letter is aimed at protecting the benefits of local farmers who will suffer a lot in US-China trade disputes ignited by US President Donald Trump.

The letter, sent to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday, expressed deep concern regarding the $3 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs China imposed on more than 80 agriculture products since Trump raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on March 8.

The letter stressed that the agriculture exports to China is very important to California, saying 20 percent of production made by the Golden State's farmers and ranchers is ultimately consumed by oversea markets. "In 2017 alone, California exported approximately $28.5 billion in products to China."

After acknowledging that the Trump administration tried to resolve deceptive or unbalanced trade between the two countries which was cited as an excuse to hike tariffs on China's products, the Congress members said they thought "the currently proposed tariffs will not effectively advance" the goals.

They called on the administration "to address these fundamental challenges through aligned efforts with our allies across the globe and abandon the current back and forth retaliation that will ultimately impact both rural and urban businesses in California and across the nation."

The letter is the latest bipartisan move of California politicians to fight for California agriculture.

Jim Costa, David G. Valadao, Jeff Denham, Julia Brownley, Steve Knight, Salud O. Carbajal, Jimmy Panetta, and John Garamendi, who are Representatives from eight congressional districts located in central California, signed the letter.

Republican Congressman Valadao tweeted Monday: "Today, I sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative urging the Administration not to implement broad tariffs that will have a long-lasting negative impact on hardworking Central Valley farmers who are already struggling."

Costa from the Democratic Party has been urging the Trump administration to rethink its approach to trade since the plans to raise steel and aluminum tariffs became public in early March.

Costa warned the House of Representatives in March that California agriculture would "likely feel the most intense and direct pain from these tariffs. California farmers and ranchers earned roughly 44 percent of their total revenue from international trade in 2016. But this pain will radiate across the country."