Voices across America

US President Donald Trump on Friday slapped tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products, the first shot in a trade war between the two countries. The move prompted Beijing to immediately impose tariffs on US products worth $34 billion annually - from soybeans and seafood to sport-utility vehicles and whiskey. Here are comments from some US states affected by the tariffs.

Alabama

"The longer this drags out, the more danger there is that we'll see a real drag on our economy. We're going to see Alabama lose jobs, and that's not acceptable," said Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield. - Bloomberg

Georgia

"You can't fix trade deficits with trade wars," said Jonathan Arn, owner of Carter Pecans in Albany, Georgia. - Southwest Farm Press

Illinois

Ken Maschhoff, chairman of Maschhoff Family Foods and co-owner of the nation's largest family-owned pork producer, said the farm industry has been "asked to be good patriots. We have been. But I don't want to be the patriot who dies at the end of the war. If we go out of business, it's tough to look at my kids and the 550 farm families that look us in the eye and our 1,400 employees". - CNBC

Iowa

"In our community, it's not just the pork producer that relies on the money coming out of the pig," said Trent Thiele, a pig farmer in Elma. "When you build a barn, we have the cement contractor, the people building the barns, the electricians, the maintenance of roads - everything. They're all relying on some of that money out of that pig. Without that, those people working would be out of a job." - NBC

Kentucky

"We're the victims in a fight that we didn't pick," said Eric Gregory of the Kentucky Distillers' Association. - National Public Radio

Louisiana

"Because Louisiana is so connected with international trade and commerce, no matter what happens we're going to feel some pain," said Eddy Hayes, international trade lawyer in New Orleans. - The Baton Rouge Advocate

Minnesota

"There's going to be an awful lot of battles lost on the way," said Tim Velde, a fourth-generation farmer in western Minnesota's Yellow Medicine County, who is bracing for tariffs on US soybeans. "I don't see anybody winning." - The New York Times

Pennsylvania

"I'm just hoping that President Trump doesn't forget about the small companies and the little guys that helped put him in office," said Gary Hartman, president of Cheetah Chassis, in Berwick, Pennsylvania, a 170-person company that makes the steel frames used to transport shipping containers across the country. "He'll have a hard time if he doesn't help us." - CNN

China Daily

(China Daily 07/07/2018 page9)