Bredesen takes aim at tariffs in new ad

Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen has launched a new ad taking aim at $200 million worth of trade tarrifs going into effect on Monday that caused China to slap $60  billion on retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods including soy beans.

“These tariffs are hurting our farmers and costing us manufacturing jobs. That’s not how you get fair trade,” Bredesen says in the commercial. “You use America’s leverage to open markets, not to close them.”

Here’s the full release from the Bredesen campaign:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bredesen For Senate today released a new TV and digital ad featuring Governor Phil Bredesen discussing concerns about the negative effects the tariffs are having on Tennessee agricultural exports.

The 30-second ad — filmed in a Wilson County soybean field during the current harvest season — comes amid an escalating trade war with China, a top consumer of U.S. and Tennessee soybeans. New U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods take effect today, with China retaliating by slapping $60 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods. Since July 6, 2018, China has been imposing tariffs on American soybeans.

• Bredesen’s message in the ad: “Soybeans. Tennessee’s largest crop and almost a third of all Tennessee agricultural exports. It’s why, as governor, I listened to our farmers and worked to expand overseas markets. In the Senate, I’ll do the same thing — for all Tennessee products. These tariffs are hurting our farmers and costing us manufacturing jobs. That’s not how you get fair trade. You use America’s leverage to open markets, not to close them.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tennessee in 2017 harvested nearly 1.7 million acres of soybeans valued at more than $805 million — making soybeans the state’s largest crop. Earlier this summer, the American Soybean Association warned that tariffs against China, amounting to a tax on exports, would cause “serious damage to U.S. farmers.”

Bredesen’s new ad follows his June critique on tariffs filmed at a Tennessee distillery.