State of South Dakota secondary Archives: on Free Trade
Billie Sutton:
Better trade deals, not trade wars and tariffs
Billie Sutton shares South Dakotans' desire to strengthen South Dakota's ag economy and will take the following steps to support our producers: Invite a bipartisan group of regional governors to a meeting on minimizing the burden of tariffs and
improving ag prices. If our representatives in Congress will not work to resolve these issues in a timely manner, agriculture based state governors must come together to bring solutions to leaders in Washington.
South Dakota producers need access to markets. In order to do that, we need to be continually pursuing new market opportunities, not cutting off market access for producers through unnecessary trade barriers like tariffs, which cause farmers and
ranchers to bear the brunt of the inevitable retaliation. While we must always be open to negotiating better trade deals with our partners, the current trade war, caused by new tariffs, is doing substantial damage to rural South Dakota.
Source: 2021 South Dakota Governor campaign website SuttonForSD.com
Nov 3, 2021
Dennis Daugaard:
Supports USMCA trade agreement to replace NAFTA
The USMCA is a new trade pact among the United States, Mexico and Canada, intended as a stronger and modernized replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R-SD): "I am very pleased to hear that the President
and his administration have struck a new trade deal that will better serve South Dakota agricultural producers and South Dakota manufacturers. Canada and Mexico rank number one and number two as South Dakota's top international trading partners."
Source: White House press release in 2018 South Dakota Governor race
Oct 2, 2018
Kristi Noem:
Supports trade deal with Mexico/Canada
Noem said in a statement that the USMCA would "increase potential for global trade while giving producers the stability to grow, invest,
and create more jobs in South Dakota" in a time when "farmers and ranchers need added market opportunities and certainty."
Source: South Dakota gubernatorial press release in AgWeek
Jun 20, 2019
Kristi Noem:
China trade wars makes low soybean prices & hurts farmers
Speaking at Politico's State Solutions Conference, Gov. Kristi Noem said, "South Dakota has been devastated by the trade wars that are going on, and agriculture is our No. 1 industry by far. When we aren't able to export our soybeans to the Asia-Pacific
region, when we're struggling with commodity prices, that's impacting not just those farmers who are on the ground but every Main Street business, everybody who has another entity out there that relies on those successful ag industries."
Noem said she's spoken to Trump administration officials and she's consistently advocated for wrapping up trade discussions. The White House is aware South Dakota farmers have previously had soybean shipments unfairly rejected by China,
Noem said. "I think the administration is trying to rectify some of that," she said. "The problem is this has gone on now for a long period of time." Sustained, low commodity prices are "driving a lot of family businesses out of business," she added.
Source: RouteFifty.com blog on 2020 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 9, 2018
Steven Haugaard:
Don't export unprocessed agricultural products, do it here
Let's maximize our billions of dollars of unprocessed agriculture products. We export millions of bushels of grain that could be processed in South Dakota. We export hundreds of thousands of cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry and the producers lose the
majority of the available profits. There are solutions without overreaching government. Our state can pave the way for those producers to employ people here without drawing in businesses that consume profits and send them out of state.
Source: 2022 South Dakota Gubernatorial website SteveHaugaard.com
Feb 22, 2022
Mike Rounds:
Tariffs are a way to open negotiations on trade agreements
I have talked to a lot of farmers and ranchers here in the state. They still support the president. They're going to give him time to actually make a difference. But we know that most tariffs that the president has talked about have
been a way to open negotiations on trade agreements. Jake, we have not had a new trade agreement on our ag products now in over four years. And our commodity prices show that.
Source: CNN SOTU 2025 interview on 2026 South Dakota Senate race
Mar 16, 2025
Mike Rounds:
Hopefully Trump tariffs will lead to negotiating trade deals
[On Trump tariff plan]: "We were hoping that as we talk about these tariffs and negotiate with China and others, that they take into account that we need a new trade deal," said Rounds. "Most certainly this is not looking good with regard to the markets,
but bottom line is, we need negotiations. Hopefully as these tariffs are put in place they are put there for a purpose, and that is to equalize some of the tariffs that are currently being charged to us that we had not been charging others in the past.
Source: KOTA-TV, "Tariff Plan", on 2026 South Dakota Senate race
Apr 4, 2025
Dusty Johnson:
Targeted tariffs helpful in building some domestic industry
I do think there are ways in which targeted tariffs can be helpful in building some domestic industry. Clearly, you can overdo tariffs too. I mean, this is a policy tool that I think Donald Trump understands can be used for leverage can be used in
a targeted way. Those would be the most effective ways to make sure that we make America stronger.
Source: S.D. News Watch, "Q&A," on 2026 South Dakota Governor race
Feb 10, 2025
Larry Rhoden:
Trusts Trump on making tariffs work out well
The bulk of South Dakota's exports are more in the crosshairs of a tariff war with three of the United States' largest trading partners. Gov. Larry Rhoden said the state has weathered a trade war in recent years. "As I've thought through this--
I remember back eight years when we had kind of the same situation and President Trump at that time said, 'trust me.' We did and it worked out pretty well."
Source: S.D. Public (NPR News) on 2026 South Dakota Governor race
Mar 7, 2025
Page last updated: Feb 06, 2026