Trump is making more things wrong with Kansas: Joshua Green: Chinese sorghum tariffs will hit hard in Trump-friendly Kansas

Eight years of Governor Sam Brownback has seen Kansas lose 8% of its jobs relative to the national average. Now Kansas is Ground Zero for Trump’s trade war. Joshua Green: Chinese Sorghum Tariffs Will Hit Hard in Trump-friendly Kansas: “Trump’s Trade War Hits Another Red State: What’s the matter with Kansas? It’ll be hardest hit by new Chinese tariffs…

…Retaliatory tariffs… soybeans… will hit… Iowa, Indiana, North Dakota, and Nebraska…. Sorghum… China… announced it would impose a 178.6 percent duty on sorghum imports from the U.S. that will take effect almost immediately…. Kansas is the largest sorghum producer in the U.S., and its senior senator, Pat Roberts, chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee…. “Half of Kansas sorghum or more was going to China, and that probably stops, at least for now.” The new Chinese measure is a response to the tariffs Trump slapped on solar panels and washing machines earlier this year…. Trump’s campaign-trail protectionism and attacks on China were a big part of his appeal to Republican voters in 2016. But as he’s begun implementing those policies as president, the economic fallout has landed heavily on his own voters. Hardest hit by the new tariffs will be Roberts’s old congressional district (KS-01), known as “The Big First” for its sprawling, agriculture-intensive acreage. In the last election, Kansas’s first district voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton by 45 points. Kansans such as Winter wish Trump would keep that in mind—but don’t hold out much hope…