In a tense closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill this week, Republican senators from key agricultural states delivered a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration's trade strategy, urging immediate relief from tariffs on critical farm inputs and expressing frustration over faltering U.S. agricultural exports-particularly to China and Japan.

The lunch session with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer revealed growing concern among farm-state lawmakers that the administration's approach-centered on retaliatory tariffs and direct financial aid-is not addressing the underlying economic strain facing the ag sector. Several senators reportedly pressed Greer on why the White House continues to pursue a tariff-heavy policy while commodity prices stagnate and export markets shrink.

"Instead of just giving farmers billions of dollars, why don't you take billions of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars of tariffs off the things that farmers need?" one senator asked, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who shared details with Agri-Pulse. Paul said Greer had "no response."

While the administration has granted tariff exemptions for select inputs-potash, herbicides, pesticides, and veterinary supplies-many others remain burdened by duties. Key agricultural machinery and parts continue to face tariffs, especially after the August expansion of steel and aluminum duties to cover derivative products. One European supplier has already ceased U.S. exports in response, worsening the availability of essential equipment for American farmers.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said the trade discussion touched on several critical commodities: soybeans, grain, sorghum, and potatoes. China's retreat from U.S. soybean purchases has left storage capacity stretched in the northern plains, while sorghum exports to China have sharply declined this year. Potatoes emerged as another flashpoint, as the U.S. industry continues to push for greater access to the Japanese market-long stalled by pest risk assessments and regulatory barriers.

Though the administration recently finalized an initial trade pact with Japan, potatoes were not included, fueling criticism from U.S. producers. Greer has previously signaled that potatoes are a priority in ongoing negotiations, but no breakthroughs have been announced.

Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, recently said that "there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes" to include potatoes in any final deal. Yet without tangible progress, industry stakeholders remain skeptical.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters that Greer updated senators on the administration's broader trade talks, including with China-whose delegation was in Washington this week to discuss Beijing's expanded rare earth export controls. Kennedy said Greer was "beavering away" on the China relationship but acknowledged that "trade deals are difficult."

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) added that while Greer and the administration are "working really hard" to open new markets, there was no clear path forward presented for resolving tensions with China. "It's kind of tit-for-tat at this point," Boozman said, "but sometimes you have to do that in order to get a good outcome."

Sen. Moran summed up the mood in a single word: "anxious." Paul was more pointed, calling the administration's approach to farm trade "bizarre." He criticized the White House for failing to acknowledge that its own tariff strategy created the crisis. "Until we have an acknowledgment that they've accepted economic fallacies and need to rethink their trade strategy, we're going to continue to have problem after problem," Paul warned. "And I think the problems get worse over time."

As harvest season rolls on and ag export windows narrow, farm-state lawmakers are signaling they want less subsidy rhetoric and more strategic trade action. The message to Greer was clear: drop the tariffs, secure the markets, and stop sidelining American agriculture.