Governor Glenn Youngkin gave the thumbs up to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies Tuesday. The remarks came at an agricultural trade conference held Tuesday in Richmond where the impacts of Trump’s policy were also discussed.
Youngkin said building new markets was the key to Virginia’s agricultural future as Trump uses tariffs to either negotiate better trade deals or move manufacturing back into the US.
“We know, all around us, there’s an interruption that we’re dealing with as the President resets trade relationships around the world," Youngkin said before a crowd at the 2025 Virginia Agricultural Trade Conference. "I do think this is a great opportunity for Virginia.”
Youngkin pointed to the announcement of a trade framework between the US and India early Tuesday as a sign that Trump’s plan was working. He said India had unusually high tariffs on goods flowing into that country while paying little for goods sent to the US. But with Trump at the wheel that all could change, he said, especially in soybean markets as China looks to nix imports of the largest crop grown in the Commonwealth.
“India today is a large importer of other people’s soybeans. They should be Virginians’,” he said.
But the impact from tariffs in the short term loomed over the event.
International trade consultant Ned Steiner also addressed the crowd Tuesday. When asked about how Americans should view Trump’s tariffs in the short-term Steiner warned: “All of those small ecommerce businesses, if they source from China, how are they going to deal with a 125% tariff? The result of this is going to be consolidation, the disappearance of a lot of these smaller companies.”
According to the Greater Washington Board of Trade, there are more than 800,000 small businesses in Virginia; they employ almost half of the Commonwealth’s residents.
Youngkin also used the speaking opportunity to say he’d sign the state’s budget next week.
“With the budget I’ll sign next week we will have secured $9 billion in tax relief to Virginians during our four-year term,” he said.
The governor submitted a record number of vetoes of the 2025 budget, many of which were struck down by Democrats during a reconvene session earlier this month.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
