U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Defends Trump Tariffs in Visit to Pennsylvania

by John Cole

Brent Copenhaver and his wife Stacey own Talview Dairy Farm, a dairy operation in Lebanon County, and sell most of their milk regionally in Pennsylvania.

To Brent, he thinks there is currently one big issue farmers across Pennsylvania are thinking about.

“I think tariffs definitely are on people’s mind,” Brent Copenhaver said to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. “How that will impact us locally is still, I think, yet to be determined.”

The Copenhavers hosted several high-ranking government officials on Monday morning, including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. She was joined by Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson – Chair of the House Agriculture Committee –and U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-9th District.

They made the case the tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump’s administration will prove beneficial to farmers.

Rollins, during the first of three stops in central Pennsylvania, said Trump’s tariffs on foreign products was a move to “save America.”

Since Trump made his tariff announcement on April 2, the stock market has experienced volatility, leading to concerns from economists about a potential recession.

Rollins said the effort was to create better trade deals with countries, who she claimed have been taking advantage of America for decades.

“That realignment is disruptive. It’s transformative, but is disruptive,” Rollins said. “And so we’re watching the market adjust to that right now. We believe it will be a short-term adjustment.”

McCormick, who supports Trump’s tariff policy, said there has been “uncertainty” with the markets as of late, but he believes that the economy will benefit as new trade deals are ironed out.

During Trump’s first term, some $25 billion from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) was used to give direct payments to farmers impacted by trade disputes with China. Rollins said the administration is prepared to provide relief to farmers “if there is damaging consequences to these (trade) negotiations.”

“The hope and the goal is that it won’t be necessary,” Rollins said, but added the administration was prepared to help out farmers, if needed.

Thompson echoed Rollins, saying he was “fully supportive of Trump” on the issue of trade and that he doesn’t expect it will be needed for farmers, but is prepared to support those payments, if needed.

Thompson referenced the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and China Phase One deal, during Trump’s administration as proof he trusts the president on resolving the ongoing tariff situation.

Rollins says ‘money is there for food banks’

In March, the USDA notified Pennsylvania and other states across the country that it was canceling programs to provide $1 billion of federal funding to schools and food banks to allow them to purchase food from farms, according to Politico.

Following the move, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Agriculture Sec. Russell Redding held a press conference on March 25 announcing they were pushing back on the USDA action to cancel $13 million over the next three years in funding for Pennsylvania farmers. Redding said he sent a letter to the federal agency to appeal the decision and Shapiro said if it fails, he would consider further legal action.

Rollins said she respects Shapiro, but added he or other leaders in Pennsylvania, “don’t have their facts right, or they’re playing games.”

“They’re trying to make this a political issue,” Rollins said to reporters at Martin’s Family Farm in Myerstown, Lebanon County. “The money is there.”

Rollins argued since becoming the head of the USDA, they’ve “released almost one billion dollars to food banks” and said there is money sitting in state accounts from the USDA to support food banks.

Thompson says no cuts will be made to SNAP

A budget plan from House Republicans would cut $230 billion from the Department of Agriculture, according to Reuters, and Democrats are concerned the cuts would come from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. It “provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget.

Thompson called it a “mistruth” and said that he is “not going to stand for any cuts” to the program.

“These are our neighbors that are living in difficult financial times,” Thompson said. He added that changes can be made to make the program more effective.

During a Q&A with the Pennsylvania Capital-Star in March, Thompson said there would be no reductions to SNAP in the next Farm Bill and would like to expand access to “two vulnerable populations who have never been eligible” for SNAP before: Those previously incarcerated for felony drug charges when they return from prison and “adult children of families that are living in financially challenging circumstances,” who “tend to be children with disabilities.”

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has cited potential cuts to SNAP as reasons he’s opposed recent GOP budget plans.

‘Labor is a massive concern,’ Rollins says

As the Trump administration follows through on its promise of deportations, the president suggested at a cabinet meeting Thursday that farmers could petition to keep workers without legal status, Reuters reported. Rollins recognized the concern the administration has over the agriculture workforce on Monday.

“Labor continues to be a massive concern for our agriculture community,” Rollins said.

The secretary said she and U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer have been tasked with working with legislative partners to come up with solutions to the issue.

Thompson said in the previous session of Congress, he put together a bipartisan work group to address the challenges facing the agriculture workforce and “in the not too distant future” they will put together a “discussion draft” to get input on potential remedies.

“We need to do this in a tri-partisan way,” Thompson said, making the case that Democrats, Republicans, and the agriculture industry can work together on the matter.

In the past, Thompson said the H2-A visa program, which helps American farmers fill temporary employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries, needs to be reformed, including making it “year round.”

How’s the Farm Bill?

Thompson said the Farm Bill, which is passed roughly every five years, is “coming along nicely.”

In 2024, Congress approved a one-year extension of the bill, as the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are on the clock to pass the next version of the legislation.

Will it pass this year?

“You bet,” Thompson said. “It absolutely should. The sooner in the year is the better, obviously.”

Thompson previously told the Capital-Star his goal was to “get this done in the first six months and as early as possible.”

With elected leaders and Secretary Rollins on hand, Brent Copenhaver said he was “honored” to host them and “promote the dairy industry.” He described updating the Farm Bill as important to local farmers as well and specifically wanting to see updated language for dairy margin coverage.

“Those numbers are based off your production history, and those numbers are outdated,” he said. “We have improved on how we have handled our cows. We have improved our milk production, and I think they need to go back and revisit and look at that production history and allow us to increase that production history to be on a more average of what we are doing today.”

“We just need to update some of the things. It’s already in the bill. We just need it updated,” Copenhaver added. “And it’s a great program that the USDA does offer.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: [email protected]. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.