For Immediate Release: 3/4/2025
GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL
GOVERNOR HOCHUL CONVENES ROUNDTABLE WITH NEW YORK AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY ON GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCY
Governor Hochul Gathered New York Farmers Together To Discuss International Markets, Including Potential Impacts from Trade Tariffs Effective Today
Tariffs Projected To Raise Costs on Average New Yorker by As Much As $1,200 a Year
New York State Encourages Impacted Businesses Including Farms To Contact TariffImpact@esd.ny.gov to Report Effects
Governor Kathy Hochul today convened a roundtable with New York agriculture leaders to discuss global competitiveness and international markets in the wake of the Trump Administration’s trade tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. The Governor encourages businesses, including New York’s farms, to report the effects of these tariffs on their work to TariffImpact@esd.ny.gov.
“From the North Country to the Southern Tier, farmers are the backbone of New York State,” Governor Hochul said. “Many of our farmers rely on export sales of their products, and I’ll continue to do everything in my power to fight against this misguided tariff policy and ensure the government is doing what it is supposed to do, which is help, not hurt, New York farmers.”
Starting today, the Trump Administration has placed a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico as well as a 10 percent tariff on energy resources from Canada. The impact is expected to raise costs for the average New Yorker by as much as $1,200 a year. To continue the Governor’s steadfast support for New York’s farms and agribusinesses as trade tariffs take effect, New York State has established an email address for businesses, including farms, to report the effects of these tariffs. While the new policy begins to take effect, information provided to TariffImpact@esd.ny.gov will help provide a real time understanding of the impact of the tariffs on the New York agricultural industry and other sectors across the state.
Recognizing agriculture as a cornerstone of New York’s economy, Governor Hochul has made record investments to support the state’s agricultural community and will continue to support this vital industry. Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, investments in agricultural priorities are up 60 percent since 2022. The Governor has also implemented a number of innovative cost-saving initiatives, such as the investment tax credit—most recently making it fully refundable, the overtime credit for farmers, and the workforce credit. These programs are helping to offset rising costs, from labor to equipment and supplies. In addition, the Governor has championed programs to strengthen New York’s food supply chain, connect our farmers to consumers, open new market opportunities for the industry, while ensuring increased access of local food to our underserved communities.
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “I’m thankful to Governor Hochul for bringing key members of the agricultural community together to discuss the challenges that are before us, from the competitiveness of specialty crops to international trade agreements, and more. Hearing directly from our farmers provides valuable perspective so that the State can understand how to better help and support our agricultural community—our farmers and our agribusinesses who provide food for our communities across the State and across the globe.”
Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “Under Governor Hochul, New York continues to support, promote and lift up its agribusinesses and small businesses. By hearing directly from farmers and business owners, the State will be able to better understand how it can assist these economic cornerstones of our communities.”
New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher said, “We appreciate Governor Hochul’s willingness to invite our members to the table to discuss the issues most important to New York agriculture, including how tariffs will directly affect farmers’ bottom line. By telling our stories and sharing our real, everyday challenges, we make our voices heard so that we can continue to provide healthy, accessible food for all New Yorkers – and keep farming sustainable and successful.”
Farm Credit East Director of Knowledge Exchange Chris Laughton said, “We appreciate the opportunity to meet with Governor Hochul to discuss the concerns of farmers across New York, including potential tariffs and trade as well as state programs important to agriculture. Agriculture is a driving force behind New York’s economy, and the state’s farm and forestry producers export around $3 billion per year to destinations worldwide. A favorable business environment inclusive of export opportunities is important to New York farm families.”
State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “The Trump administration’s tariff plan will deal a direct blow to our food supply and New York’s family farms. While many large farms across the country export their goods, New York farms maintain primarily local markets. However, tariffs are not one-sided, and with all but guaranteed retaliatory actions coming, our supply chains will become saturated by industry giants, squeezing our farmers and leaving many without a path to stay in business. Once we lose local farms, they rarely come back. That means less control over what we eat and where it comes from. Food security is national security, and these reckless policies put both at risk. While the federal government barrels down this destructive path, we will do everything in our power to help New York farmers. I thank Governor Hochul for taking action to track these impacts so we can target support, and I call on federal representatives, especially those in the majority, to listen to the farmers in their districts and across the country who could lose everything because of these disastrous policies and stand up for them.”
Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, “The tariffs the President has imposed on Canada and Mexico, covers more than $900 billion worth of annual U.S. imports. Economists predict that this will deal a major setback to the entire Northern American economy. The impact on agriculture alone will be significant. In New York we would expect to see an immediate impact on the cost of energy and fertilizer, along with a fear of retaliatory measures effecting exported dairy products, corn, soy beans, and feed grains.The resulting inflation will be an egregious affront to hardworking farm families in NY and across the country. I’d like to thank the Governor for drawing attention to this emerging concern and for listening to our farmers and wanting to help.”
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For Immediate Release: 3/4/2025
GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL
VIDEO, AUDIO, PHOTOS & RUSH TRANSCRIPT: GOVERNOR HOCHUL CONVENES A ROUNDTABLE WITH FARMERS AND AGRICULTURE LEADERS, DISCUSSING TARIFFS, GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCY
Governor Hochul: “What I want to continue doing as a Governor who understands this industry and how critical it is, is to keep making investments… We have spent a great deal of money in our Budget. Agricultural spending is up 60 percent in our Budget since I became Governor.”
Hochul: “I want to know the impacts of tariffs on our farmers and people across the State. Because I have to be able to quantify this and use this to build the argument when I'm speaking to our legislators, our Republican members of Congress who are in the majority in Washington, when I go to the White House. I want to have the stories, the data and be able to talk about the impact that these tariffs have had on the State of New York… This is the last thing our agricultural community needs — or our entire state needed — and this is now the reality we're having to deal with.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul convened a roundtable with farmers and agriculture leaders impacted by the Trump administration’s tariff policy. The Governor discussed global competitiveness and international markets in the wake of the Trump Administration’s trade tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and encouraged businesses — including farms across New York State — to report the effects of these tariffs on their work to TariffImpact@esd.ny.gov.
VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).
AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.
PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:
Morning, everyone. How are you?
[...]
Well, I went to the Taste New York event last night at the Convention Center. Jim, I saw your son. It's great to see all of you again, and what a great celebration of agriculture in the State of New York. I love this event. I go every single year. I get to see the future farmers of America. I always encourage those young people to continue with their studies and know that someday, they'll take their place among the great people who make this state so extraordinary, and that is our farmers.
I'm well aware that it's an $8.5 billion industry. This is critical to our success, critical to our economy, but also critical to our ability to just take care of our people and feed them the fresh fruits, and produce, and dairy that you manage and grow on your farms — over 32,000 family farms. That's extraordinary. Now the numbers have been trending downward. I'd love to see that get higher, but that is something that is so important to the fabric of our state, and I want you to know — having represented in Congress one of the most rural areas of our state — that's how I got to know Jim and his family; that I've been to so many farms.
I've been there in the early season, when you go to an apple farm and it's been a harsh year, and you open up, and take a look, and you see that the stem is already dying and it may not produce any fruit for the entire year. I've seen that, I've seen the struggles of our dairy farmers. The price of milk vacillating so intensely, but everybody's so resilient.
That's what I love about our farmers. There's nothing that keeps them down because they've seen it all. The invasive species, the floods, the droughts, the global marketplace, and yet they keep coming back every single day, waking up and doing their job again — and really inspiring, oftentimes, the next generation.
So many family farms are out there, and I was very sensitive as I walked through last night talking to a lot of farmers, and they're so proud of what they've created and proud that it's made in New York — whether it's the maple syrup or the amazing apples. We are top 10 commodities in so many areas nationwide.
And I know our commission, we talk about this all the time, our great pride in this. What I want to continue doing as a Governor who understands this industry and how critical it is, is to keep making investments. We've done a number of things since I've been Governor. We have spent a great deal of money in our Budget. Agricultural spending is up 60 percent in our Budget since I became Governor. I want to make these investments and I want to continue making those. And, also, making sure we have the tax credits in place to assist you and other ways we can be supportive.
The Farm Bureau President, Dave Fisher, and I are very close. I was walking around with him yesterday. I know he had to head off to Washington because today is the day that they're talking about tariffs, and when I think about all the stress that's on you all day long already, and now you have to factor in, “What are these tariffs going to do to my business? How will I overcome this?”
Our trading partners like Canada and Mexico — particularly Canada, though. I mean, we're right on the border, right on the border. And there's such an easy flow of commerce back and forth, and we rely on this — it's so important to all of us. But, I want to hear from you today: What is the impact that you're projecting now that tariffs will have on your business? Because they're saying for an average family, the costs could go anywhere from $1,300 to $3,000 higher a year starting this year, because of the tariffs that are in place as of today with Canada and Mexico.
Now, I know the argument is that fentanyl is flowing over the Canadian borders. It was coming in for a while, not anywhere near the scale we saw on the southern border, but it is down to about 1 percent of the fentanyl that comes in this country comes over from Canada. And Canada has a very long border. But I, just to make sure, have sent reinforcements. Our State Police are up on the border assisting to make sure we can interdict any illegal drugs that come across the border to help the federal government.
We're taking care of this. We're focused on this. But I just think that it’s a ruse for finding an opportunity to really turn our relationships upside down with important countries that we rely on for partnership and markets for us. And if we lose them, they're going to have retaliatory tariffs for us. You want to be able to have this uninterrupted flow of commerce, but now we're going to be looking at these additional price tags because of the tariffs. I think it's just an excuse.
As I said, we exported $22 billion worth of goods to Canada. They send over all kinds of supplies, fuel, aluminum, steel — you're going to be rebuilding and we're trying to rebuild our economy — it's been a tremendously beneficial relationship. But we also want to gather, not just here but going forward, I want to know the impacts of tariffs on our farmers and people across the State. Because I have to be able to quantify this and use this to build the argument when I'm speaking to our legislators, our Republican members of Congress who are in the majority in Washington, when I go to the White House. I want to have the stories, the data and be able to talk about the impact that these tariffs have had on the State of New York.
And so we have TariffImpact@esd.ny.gov as a place, we'll get that all to all of you. And I want to make sure that we do hear the impacts, because, like I said, you have enough to worry about. This is the last thing our agricultural community needs — or our entire state needed — and this is now the reality we're having to deal with.
With that, I want to turn it over to Commissioner Ball and thank him for his leadership. As I mentioned, I know Jim Bittner is our President of the Council of Agricultural Organizations and Kim Skellie is our Vice President of the Farm Bureau. And again, I know Dave is off in Washington right now, right?
So we'll make sure that — send him our best, Kim. Send him our best. We saw him yesterday. Commissioner Ball, let me turn it over to you.
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