By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Later this month, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet during the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. Some analysts have said this may be the best opportunity for the two leaders to end their year-long trade impasse.

In May, Trump told reporters the United States is in a strong position. “Our economy is fantastic,” he stated. “Theirs is not so good. I think we’re winning it. We’re winning. You want to know something? We always win.”

Trump’s comments may not help to reach an agreement, noted Wally Tyner, a Purdue University agricultural economist.

“In trade negotiations, every country has to come out thinking it’s a win for them,” he explained. “The President seems to think ‘win for us, loss for China.’ That won’t work for China. As long as this continues, the U.S. and Chinese economies are losing billions (of dollars) annually.

“It has to be a win for both sides. They can’t go back to their people and say, ‘We lost, but we signed anyway.’”

The lack of an agreement is causing farmer patience to wear thin, said Bob White, Indiana Farm Bureau’s director of national government relations. “I’m surprised, as are a lot of producers, we’re looking at (this lasting) 14 months now,” he said.

“Last summer, we thought we were a few weeks away from getting this resolved. The USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) was signed last November and we’re still not done with it. It’s ‘Groundhog Day;’ we’re waking up every day to the same story.”

It will be easier for producers to accept the China situation if the U.S. can get disputes settled with other trade partners, White noted. “Canada and Mexico are our biggest trade partners. Let’s put this to bed and get back online.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are a lot of good people in the USTR (U.S. Trade Representative) agency opening new markets. It’ll take us a while, but hopefully we’ll get some new markets. Will it offset? No.”

Trump and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue have said the U.S. plans to use money received from tariffs imposed on China to help pay for a $16 billion Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to aid farmers impacted by the trade war. The relief plan includes direct payments to producers and funds to purchase pork and dairy. Specifics of the program had not been announced as of press time.

“The President says these tariffs are great, we’re getting billions from China,” Tyner said. “That’s a lie. Most tariffs are paid by consumers or paid by the importer. None of it is paid by China.”

Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, echoed Tyner’s assessment.

“A tariff is a tax on imported goods,” he said. “Despite what the President says, it is almost always paid directly by the importer – usually a domestic firm – and never by the exporting country. The Chinese government pays nothing, just as the U.S. government pays no tax to Canada for that nation’s tariffs on imported dairy products. China is not paying the U.S. billions of dollars in tariffs.”

The USDA has provided “dangerously little detail” about how the latest MFP – announced May 23 – will operate, noted U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio).

“What we do know is that this is the second time USDA has been asked to provide a supposed ‘one-time’ fix for the problems the administration has caused for our farmers. What we have now is a pattern of a president making impulsive decisions that damage the farm economy, only to just as impulsively direct USDA to spend billions in taxpayer money on a temporary fix,” she said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote on Twitter he was “glad President Trump (and) USDA Secretary Perdue are helping farmers hurting from China tariffs. In the long run, farmers want trade, not aid. China needs to wake up and realize (the) U.S. is serious about their abuses. President Trump ran on cracking down on China and is keeping his promise. Free trade is a two-way street.”

The MFP will help curb the impact of America’s trade issues with China, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). “Farmers in the 16th District of Illinois and across the country are bearing the brunt of these trade disputes on top of dealing with six straight years of industry recession,” he said.

“I know how hard our farmers work, and understand they’d prefer to have open export markets to sell their goods rather than look to relief programs. The President deserves to be commended – he is fighting for our farmers against unfair trade practices, but understands the need to provide temporary relief during these negotiations.”