Maine Sen. Angus King says the state’s blueberry industry isn’t getting the assistance it deserves. He took to the Senate floor Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump’s trade war.
King says Maine’s wild blueberry growers are suffering as China has slapped a huge import tax on their product. And King says that unlike growers of some other agricultural exports, the blueberry industry is not getting any federal payments to help offset the burden.
“Hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts, but not blueberries or apples,” he says. “So we have got a double whammy here on this proud industry from Maine.”
He says exports of blueberries to China have shrunk to a tiny fraction of what they were before the trade war.
