Dairy farmer surprised that he has to pay tariff and not his Canadian supplier. Did he forget that Mexico did not pay

[tulipsandroses]

for the wall either?

It doesn't say this guy is a trump supporter. But looks like he bought trump's BS that foreign company would pay the tariff. He forgot that Mexico was supposed to pay for the wall. Not only did they not pay for the wall, the govt was shut down when trump insisted that we the tax payers had to pay for it.

Last month, Nicholas Gilbert received a delivery of grain for the 1,400 cows he tends at his dairy farm in Potsdam, New York, 20 miles from the Ontario border. The feed came with a surprise tariff of $2,200 tacked on. “We have small margins,” he told me. “I had a contracted price on that grain delivered to my barn. It was supposed to be so much per ton. And they added that tariff right on top because it comes from a Canadian feed mill.”

Gilbert cannot increase the price of the milk he sells, which is set by the local co-op. He cannot feed his cows less food. He cannot buy feed from another supplier; there aren’t any nearby, and getting it from farther away would be more expensive. When he got the delivery, he stared at the tariff for a while. Shouldn’t his Canadian supplier have been responsible for paying it? “I’m not even sure it’s legal! We contracted for the price on delivery! If your price of fuel goes up or your truck breaks down, that’s not my problem! That’s what the contract’s for.”

But the tariff was legal, and it was Gilbert’s responsibility. The dairy farmer is one of tens of thousands of American business owners caught in a spiraling trade war, and lives in one area of the United States that might already be tipping into a recession because of it. Businesses near the Canadian border are particularly vulnerable to the rising costs and falling revenue caused by tariffs, and are delaying projects, holding off on hiring, raising prices, letting workers go, or wondering how they are going to keep feeding their cows as a result.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/recession-tariffs-canada-trump/682297/

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Red farmers are raising fafo instead of alfalfa. . . . nt

[newdeal2]

2. Dummies. And for everyone else

I hope retailers add a separate line on receipts that clearly show the Trump tax people are now paying.

[DaBronx]

3. That's right

They were ok with everybody else getting hurt.
Another FAFO victim. Maybe he should call the White House. Maybe load up the cows and parade them through the Oval Office. They can lay some cable as they move through.

[mucholderthandirt]

21. Maybe he can parade his cows during the birthday parade the Orange monkey wants. So him who's boss, right? LOL

[DaBronx]

23. Exactly!

[Prairie Gates]

4. "That's what the contract's for"

Tell every researcher that had an accepted grant pulled what a contract is worth in Trump's America. Trump doesn't believe in contracts. They are so much paper to him. The Supreme Court doesn't believe in contracts either now. They can't even stay faithful to the bedrock article of their own capitalist belief system. Contracts mean nothing now.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. At least the farmer probably had a clause warning him he is responsible for tariffs and/or change of policy.

[Melon]

14. Contracts typically exclude pricing or actions from governmental action.

[cadoman]

5. welcome to the Democratic Party, Nicholas Gilbert

Glad to have ya.

It's a big tent with a lot of great folks. You'll be quite happy here, and you'll have some extra cash in your pocket after we return to power. First round of drinks are on you though, for your, er, prior voting indiscretions...

[Abolishinist]

13. I appreciate your optimistic approach, I really do.

I'm just not sure I'm at a point where, at this point, I give a flying F.

[Autumn]

20. He will stay a Republican because it's all Bidens fault. Do you think moderate democrats should

join the Republican pary and fix it? I don't welome republican whiners into my party, it doesn't need fixing.

[LS0999]

6. These people are too stupid to be in business

Even if the exporter paid they still would pass the cost on down the chain. Economics 101.

[UpInArms]

7. Maybe Nicholas can give a lesson on how tariffs work now

Instead of believing in the tooth fairy

[struggle4progress]

8. "There's a sucker punched every minute"

[Meowmee]

9. He has to buy american to avoid the tariff

And then that money goes to the orange king and the billionaires etc.

[Buns_of_Fire]

10. "They" didn't add anything, dumbass.

Another graduate of the Trump University School of Economics, I see.

[Mountainguy]

12. Somebody tell the fool

that his supplier is charging exactly what they both agreed. The $2,200 extra is the Trump Tariff Tax, charged to him by Donald Trump.

[Ms. Toad]

15. Pretty sure the tariffs on grain weren't in effect last month.

They were initially imposed, but Trump almost immediately backed off on anything covered by the USMCA. Grain is covered by the USMCA.

It is subject to tariffs now, but wouldn't have been at the time referenced in this article.

[markodochartaigh]

18. I found these. It seems like aluminum and steel were the reversed tariffs.

OTTAWA – The U.S. administration’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian grain and grain products, set to take effect Feb. 4 will drive up the cost of essential food staples for American families, warns Grain Growers of Canada (GGC).

https://farmersforum.com/u-s-tariffs-on-canadian-grain-will-cost-american-families-says-ggc/

https://www.producer.com/news/grain-growers-of-canada-react-to-u-s-tariffs/

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/11/trump-tariffs-canada-steel-aluminum

[Ms. Toad]

19. Those were the first tariffs paused

Those were paused when Canada and Mexico promised to do stuff on the border that they were already doing.

The second were to start in March, and almost immediately paused on everything covered by the USMCA https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/03/06/trump-tariffs-live-updates-businesses-warn-of-ripple-down-effects-from-tariffs-because-of-rising-costs.html

Grain is covered by the USMCA, so the tariffs were paused until April.

[Hornedfrog2000]

16. The funniest part is

He is part of a coop.

[Hugin]

17. I feel a "Let them eat cake." moment coming on...

It's going to be a crazy September if we even make it that long.

[jonstl08]

22. Extra clauses

My company works with a lot of vendors. Every contract has clauses in them stating the price can increase due to things beyond their control such as higher fuel prices (surcharges) or in this case government actions. They have to cover their costs. So the farmer needs to read his contract to see if this clause is in it.

[malaise]

24. Ignorance

Is not blissful

[Iggo]

25. The tariff is on you, sir! We tried to tell you.

If your price of doing business goes up, that’s not Canada’s problem.

You see how that works?

[Wonder Why]

26. E-I-E-I-O!

Old Dumb Donald had a farm.

EIEIO

And on his farm he had no brains

EIEIO

With a clown, clown here and a clown, clown there

EIEIO

Here a clown, there a clown

Everywhere a stupid clown

Old Dumb Donald had a farm.

EIEIO