RALEIGH -- In a letter to President Trump, Gov. Roy Cooper described the damage being done to North Carolina’s farmers and manufacturers by the Trump Administration’s escalating trade war and urged the President to take action to prevent further damage to the economy.

“I write on behalf of the State of North Carolina to ask you to stop the economic damage to our state from your escalating tariff battle with international trading partners,” said Gov. Cooper. 
Governor Cooper expressed concern that North Carolina’s manufacturers could be harmed by rising costs of aluminum and steel and emphasized the damage already being done to the state’s agriculture industry – particularly pork and tobacco farmers.

“While North Carolinians support a level playing field for exports, the tariffs imposed by the US Administration and retaliation by trading partners seem to uniquely target agriculture goods that are the foundation of our state’s economy,” said Governor Cooper.

At risk are $210 million annually of pork exports to Mexico and China as well as $340 million in tobacco exports to Turkey, the European Union, and China. The North Carolina Farm Bureau has warned that damage to the agriculture industry is “the tip of the spear” in this trade war.

“Our state’s farmers, manufactures and technology industries remain worried, and rightly so. Please use your power to stop the losses from retaliatory tariffs and indirect effects to keep our state’s economy strong,” urged Governor Cooper.