How Is the Tariff War With China Affecting American Farmers?

Will Hsu and his family have been farming ginseng in Wisconsin for more than fifty years. The medicinal crop is a prized export with deep roots in Chinese markets. But a sharp rise in tariffs is threatening to upend that relationship and crush an already shrinking industry.

This season, Why It Matters is taking you through the ins and outs of trade. In part one of our two-part episode on tariffs, Why It Matters unpacks the logic behind tariffs, explores how "leveling the playing field" doesn’t always work out, and hears firsthand how a family farm is being squeezed by an ongoing trade war.

This episode was originally released by Why It Matters on April 16, 2025.

Find us

Tariff Turmoil, Part 1: How Tariffs Are Affecting Farmers - https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/wim/tari...
Why It Matters - https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/why-it-m...
Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/39tmKmi
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3ACtkTq
Google Podcasts - https://bit.ly/2W5Ef94

Host

Gabrielle Sierra
Podcast Host and Director of Podcasting

Episode Guests

Matthew P. Goodman
Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies, CFR

Will Hsu
President of Hsu's Ginseng Enterprises Inc.

Related Episodes

We’ve Been Looking at Trade All Wrong - https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/weve-bee...

The Washington Consensus Could Not Hold - https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/wim/wash...

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