Washington state spud farmers will be mashed by Trump’s tariffs, Sen. Murray warns

April 08, 2025 / 1:44 pm

caption: Potatoes scoot by on fast belts at Balcom & Moe in Pasco. The potatoes get a rinse, are sized and then put in bags destined for America’s supermarkets. The potato farmer and packer-shipper has been in business since the 1920s.

During President Donald Trump’s first term, Washington cherry growers took a big hit from tariffs that increased the cost of doing business with India. This time around, tariffs could devastate Washington potato farmers exporting their spuds to Japan, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray warned.

“I have talked to so many farmers in our state who are furious that Donald Trump cannot seem to grasp the basic fact that they actually rely on international markets,” Murray (D-Washington) said in a press release. “Trump doesn’t have a clue — and businesses in Washington state are already paying the price for his ignorance.”

Trump has said across-the-board tariffs will bring in billions of dollars. A statement from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said the agency has brought in $4.8 billion so far from tariffs imposed on China earlier this year.

In an interview in March, Trump told U.S. farmers, “Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural products to be sold inside of the United States.” He also advised them to “have fun.”

But Murray said there is nothing “fun” about the prospect of a tariff war for Washington’s agricultural industry, which relies heavily on international trade.

“He just slapped 24% tariffs on Japan, which is the largest export market for Washington potatoes,” Murray said. “Now, potato farmers are worried that they’ll lose access to Japan’s market over retaliatory tariffs. And they already lost access to China’s market in Trump’s first-term trade war.”

Washington state has one of the most trade-dependent economies of any state in the country, with approximately $60 billion in annual exports. Washington is the top U.S. producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, sweet cherries, and spearmint oil.

During Trump’s first term, India imposed a 20% retaliatory tariff on U.S. apples, which caused Washington apple shipments to India to fall by 99% and caused growers to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in exports.

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Joshua McNichols
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As KUOW's Growth and Development reporter and co-host of KUOW's Booming podcast, Joshua's "growing pains" beat sits at the nexus of housing, transportation, urban planning, government and the economy. His favorite stories also include themes of history, technology, and climate change.
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