CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin confronted Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance because some farmers are "worried" about former President Donald Trump's plan to impose broad tariffs on imports.
In an interview on Thursday, Sorkin questioned Vance about the tariffs "because they're across the board and they're not as targeted."
"There are certain industries that, unfortunately, we don't have," the host noted, referring to the U.S.' need to rely on foreign trade.
"So when you see, for example, like a Goldman Sachs report come out suggesting that this actually becomes not just a massive tax, but a massive drain on the economy, what do you think?"
"Donald Trump is a negotiator," Vance argued. "He believes in using tariffs for negotiation, but he also does believe in using tariffs to induce more manufacturing, more capital formation in our country."
Sorkin said there was a "flip side" to broad tariffs.
"It creates an export problem because there will be retribution," he said. "I've gotten emails even in the past week from viewers of Squawk who are farmers in the Midwest who are worried, deeply worried, that depending on how these tariffs play out, that it's actually going to affect them on the opposite end."
Trump said the "ridiculous predictions" came from "people who have an axe to grind against Donald Trump."
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"I'm, of course, not saying the farmers fall into that category, but when did America, for the first time maybe in our history, become a net food importer, meaning we need to take in more food than we produce ourselves?" Vance remarked. "2023, under the policies of Kamala Harris."
"When Donald Trump was president and doing all these things that certain pundits say are going to lead to terrible outcomes, what actually happened?" he added. "America was a net food exporter. We grew more of our food than we needed. That is an important thing."
According to many reports, the Department of Agriculture announced the U.S. became a net food importer for the first time in 2023.
