Midwest caught in the middle again

Weather and the US-China trade war are taking a toll on the economy in the Midwest.

Perhaps no region in the United States has been more adversely impacted by the trade war with China than the Midwest. The retaliatory tariffs have choked off the China market for agricultural products while the ongoing skirmish over the new NAFTA (USMCA) and a near hostile European business outlook to the U.S. has hindered expansion into alternative markets. Add to the mix several years of adverse weather conditions and many farmers are standing on the ledge looking down into the abyss of financial disaster. But the bad news isn’t confined to the farmers. The industrial sector in the Midwest is also spinning its wheels with little to no growth. In particular, the auto industry is feeling the pinch from the trade war and general slowing of the economy, not only in the U.S. but globally as well.