Rural America feels hit by Trump's trade war in China

Walmart and Macy's say they might need to raise prices if Trump goes on increasing tariffs to cover almost everything China exports to the US, from toys to clothing and at the hardware store.

Rural telecom companies may face additional costs or disruptions to the network if they can not purchase the equipment they need from Chinese suppliers – which could affect customers who depend on these connections.

"Farmers, ranchers, small businesses in rural America, the people who support them – your teachers, all of this," said Carri Bennet, Senior Legal Advisor for the Rural Wireless Association, a representative occupational group. rural telecommunications companies. "Our members are in small communities with less than 10,000 people … It does not help, it ends up harming them."

Concerns about higher costs come from the fact that many small and rural telecom providers rely on low-cost transmitters and receivers manufactured by Huawei, the world's largest provider of telecommunications equipment. . Large companies such as Verizon and AT & T do not use Huawei equipment. (AT & T is the owner of WarnerMedia, CNN's parent company.)

Trump signed a decree Wednesday banning the use of telecommunication equipment sources deemed to pose a risk to national security. Although the order does not mention by name Huawei or China, the administration quickly decided to place Huawei on a Commerce Department blacklist a few minutes after the signing of the order by Trump, while making sure what it is covered by the new rules of the administration.

Business Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Thursday that the administration was willing to work with small carriers and rural carriers to ensure they would not be forced to "scam" everything as planned by Huawei. And White House officials said they would take the companies' view on how to structure the implementation of the new rules.

But being unable to buy new equipment Huawei could still leave these carriers stuck with an aging infrastructure that could not be replaced if it was malfunctioning, degraded or was destroyed by the weather, Bennet said.

"You will not be able to make a 911 call if the network is down," she said, especially in rural areas where major carriers do not offer any services.

The complications surrounding the executive order reflect the way in which Trump's number initiatives have had unintended consequences.

Farmers are already struggling to adapt to Chinese tariffs on US soybeans, corn and wheat.

"Farmers were [Trump’s] John Wesley Boyd Jr., a Virginia-based soybean producer, told CNN's Brianna Keilar in a recent interview. "They helped elect this president … and now he turns his back on American farmers when we need him the most."

Trump offered subsidies last year and said he would push to increase these payments to help farmers until a trade deal is reached.

But the impact of Trump's latest escalations goes beyond agriculture.

According to an April Brookings Institution study, about 2.1 million workers in the aircraft manufacturing, beer manufacturing, tobacco and many other industries are likely to be in danger. to be affected by the trade war. Brookings found that the impact would be evenly split between the red and blue counties.

But a similar study done last week by Axios revealed that recent escalations in Trump could reach more than five times as many workers. The hardest-hit sectors will be in industries in "very red and already in crisis rural areas," including miners in Texas, furniture manufacturers in North Carolina, and sawmills in Alabama.

According to the Consumer Technology Association, about 1 million jobs are at risk from trade war in states such as Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

The trade war has also forced US companies to pay nearly $ 750 million in tariffs on 5G-related products, the mobile data technology that the United States sees as the key to economic development.

As a result, US companies are paying more for their infrastructure, even as Trump prepares to meet with Democratic leaders next week to discuss funding for a $ 2 trillion infrastructure proposal.