Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 10/9/18
 
When other countries retaliated against Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs by slapping their own duties on U.S. agricultural products and other goods, it seemed like a clear effort to target the president's political base and exert the most political pressure on the White House.

The Brookings Institution now has some data to back up that theory. A report released last week showed that counties that voted for Trump in 2016 are nearly twice as exposed to retaliatory tariffs as counties that voted for Hillary Clinton, as our Pro Trade friends pointed out today.

In Trump counties, 8.1 percent of exports come from industries subject to retaliatory duties, compared to 4.2 percent in Clinton counties. Exports from agricultural regions of the country are the most exposed, the report finds, including metro areas in the Central Valley of California and rural areas and small towns in the Midwest.

Agriculture, meat and poultry products represent about 18 percent of U.S. exports hit with retaliatory tariffs. In rural areas across the country, tariff-affected industries account for 12.2 percent of exports and 13.4 percent of jobs.