Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 6/7/18

Trade negotiators don't merely want China to buy more U.S. agricultural products. Pro Trade's Doug Palmer reports that the U.S. team gave the Chinese a long list of agricultural trade barriers that must be lifted to boost imports from the U.S. in order to meet President Donald Trump's goal of reducing the trade deficit. But China has made it clear they won't remove any barriers as long as Trump imposes new U.S. tariffs, which could take effect as soon as the end of next week.

Adding insult to injury: If talks sour, U.S. farmers would be hit with billions more in retaliatory tariffs — Beijing has targeted about $16 billion of the roughly $20 billion in U.S. agricultural exports to China last year. That includes the No. 1 export, soybeans, of which U.S. sent $12.4 billion worth to China in 2017.

Senate help: Sens. Heidi Heitkamp and Bob Corker on Wednesday introduced bipartisan legislation requiring congressional approval of tariffs designated for national security reasons. "For North Dakota farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers, exporting is critical," Heitkamp said in a statement. "But the administration's wrongheaded trade policies are putting their livelihoods in jeopardy."

President Trump wasted no time trying to persuade Corker to abandon his plans. POLITICO's Burgess Everett reported the president called Corker on Wednesday morning to try to get him not to file the amendment, but Corker was not swayed. He had plenty of support: a faction of Republican senators banded around Corker over fears that Trump's policies hurt the economy and divide the GOP leading up to the midterm elections.

What do voters think? Americans don't seem to be sold on the tariffs. An exclusive POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that few voters think tariffs will help U.S. economy, and a majority fear that the tariffs will make goods more expensive for U.S. businesses.