By Bob Bragg
It seems like we’ve already seen this bad movie. Last week, President Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after talks between the U.S and Canada broke down. Trump’s tariff levies on Canada include alcoholic beverages, stoves, and milk and cheese, steel, pulp, paper, and electronic equipment. So Canada slapped retaliatory tariffs on $19.9 billion worth of U.S. goods, that include dairy products and agricultural equipment. These retaliatory measures match America's targeted 50% tariffs “dollar for dollar,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
Diesel prices are surging at the worst possible time for farmers, because fall harvest is near. The national average retail price for diesel just hit $5.61 per gallon, up almost $2.00 from a year ago, and near to an all time high of $5.82 in June of 2022.
This spike is caused by the lowest level of supplies since 1982. In order to harvest crops ahead of changing weather, farmers use combines, tractors, grain carts, and transport trucks that run for long, intensive hours daily to get their crops out of fields, and to avoid the inclement fall weather that can damage crops, and even cause farmers to abandon wet fields that can’t support harvest equipment. Diesel fuel stocks are at record lows for this time of year, becauseUkraine has severely damaged Russian oil refineries, disrupting global diesel supplies.
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