Tariff row savages US pecan farmers

OCILLA, Georgia-In the United States, on average, a third of all pecans grown are exported to China. But, for Randy Hudson, a US pecan farmer in the leading producing state of Georgia, the amount is much more: practically all of his crop goes across the Pacific.

"I can tell you this-99 percent of our production goes to China ... We've had a great working relationship with China over the years," Hudson said. However, the US-led hike in tariffs is threatening to undo all that, leaving farmers like Hudson counting the cost.

On July 6, the US added a 25-percent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports, claiming that an additional tariff on $200 billion worth of goods is in the pipeline. Beijing responded in kind, hitting US products, including pecans.