DENVER — President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that there is no last-minute deal to avert sweeping tariffs against Canada and Mexico, which will take effect on Tuesday.
Broad 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports will begin Tuesday, along with an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.
Trump had paused tariffs on both nations after their leaders said they would bolster border security and assist the U.S. in stopping the flow of illegal drugs.
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Tariffs are fees charged to companies for importing their goods from another country. Many economists believe that most companies will pass the cost of a tariff to the consumer instead of absorbing the fee.
According to research released in October 2024 by Georgia State University, Arizona State University, and Colorado State University, tariffs might not only cause an increase in prices for consumers but they can also disrupt supply chains.
Colorado farmers worry that these tariffs could be the latest blow in an already tough economic time.
Colorado produces corn, wheat and hay, which is farmed heavily on the Eastern Plains. In order to grow those crops, farmers rely on a fertilizer called potash, which is imported from Canada.
“It'll be tough to absorb for farmers,” said Chad Franke, the president of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.
Franke said that price will not be passed directly onto consumers because farmers do not set their prices; global markets do.
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Farmers are also concerned about the price of machinery increasing because of the tariffs.
“Uncertainty is probably the best word I can use for the way farmers have reacted,” Franke said. “Retaliation is another major issue. If these tariffs go into effect on Mexico and Canada, they're big trade partners of ours on the commodity side, so if they put retaliatory tariffs in place, agricultural products are likely going to feel that effect, and that's going to reduce where we can market our products.”
Colorado farmers are already feeling the punch of the Trump administration's federal funding freeze, which left those in the EQIP program holding the bag for costs the government had promised to reimburse for big-ticket projects like irrigation systems.
“You know, some of them are fairly small $10,000 or $20,000, but if you're talking a big center pivot irrigation system, you may be talking a million plus,” Franke said. “The farmer is on the hook for a lot of money.”
Federal layoffs have also impacted projects that farmers were relying on because there are no longer engineers to do the work.
Franke said this year could break family farms in Colorado.
“Not only are they providing the food for this country and a lot of other countries, they're also the backbone of our rural economy,” he said.
Scripps News Group contributed to this story.
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