From tariffs on agricultural exports to rising costs of food, gas and other goods and services, the state of the country's economy is on the mind of many Americans this summer and ahead of the 2022 election.
Consumer prices over the last year jumped 8.6% as of May, the highest inflation figure in four decades and faster than April's year-over-year increase of 8.3%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Prices jumped 1% from April to May, compared to a 0.3% increase from March to April. Updated data for the month of June will be available in mid July.
In addition to everyday costs faced by constituents, global and domestic trade are important in the agricultural congressional district in Central Washington where Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is running for reelection in 2022.
The incumbent from Sunnyside faces seven challengers in the race for his seat in District 4, including Republicans Loren Culp of Moses Lake, Benancio Garcia of Sunnyside, Corey Gibson of Selah, Brad Klippert of Kennewick, Jacek Kobiesa of Pasco and Jerrod Sessler of Prosser, along with Democrat Doug White of Yakima.
The top two candidates in the Aug. 2 primary, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election.
Culp did not respond to a request to participate in this Q&A series. Here's what the rest of the District 4 candidates had to say about trade and inflation in the U.S. Some responses have been shortened slightly.
How do you plan to address the economic pressures facing Americans, including high inflation, gas prices and other costs?
Benancio Garcia: I am open to opening ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) and getting lease agreements for oil productions and metal production and also having the Keystone Pipeline open. Let's stop cutting the lease agreements that stop all those aspects of oil production. We need to be producing oil. Just that alone, without a drop coming out of the ground, would go ahead and allow lower prices in the future market for a barrel of oil and also be competitive with that of Russia and Iran. We have to be very conscious and critical of how we go ahead and we compete with the world. We need to allow those energy resources to open up.
Corey Gibson: I think we just need to get back to some common-sense policies, which includes energy independence. I think that that is one of the most important things that we could do in order to help the people in this district, in this country: Energy independence, getting ourselves back to where we are self-sustainable there, which has benefits far beyond just our economies when it comes to our geopolitical opportunities and foreign affairs. When it comes to inflation and everything else, the U.S. government has got to stop spending money. We've got to start cutting back on not just proposed spending from the federal government, but on actual spending from the federal government. We have too many social programs right now, and we've printed far too much money. We've got to get money out of circulation, and we have to get our dollar stable again. In fact, protecting our dollar also has to be one of our No. 1 national security priorities. I think the No. 1 thing that we can do to help people is energy independence, start working on food independence, and to get ourselves much more sustainable so that we are not so dependent on foreign countries for all of our goods.
Brad Klippert: Well, the best way to address high inflation and gas prices is if we start producing the energy we have right here in the United States of America. We have plenty of resources. We were energy independent. The man who sits in the Oval Office and is destroying the nation has record-high fuel prices that are totally and completely unnecessary. When you have record-high diesel prices and fuel prices, it causes everything else to go up in the price. If we just simply bring down those fuel prices by producing our own domestic resources, you will see inflation down almost immediately.
Jacek Kobiesa: The first thing we have to do to adjust inflation is to stop spending. Right now, the amount of money being spent from Washington, D.C. is insane. Our national debt is over $30 trillion right now. The first step is to basically cut and stop spending. Then we have to stop sending foreign aid to countries, especially those countries who are not very friendly with us. And gas prices. As gas prices go up, what we're seeing at the pump is the taxation. I believe that we need to start drilling, especially drilling in the Dakotas and in Alaska.
Dan Newhouse: The biggest influence on inflation is the high cost of energy, and there certainly are things that we can do to address it. The Biden administration on day one stopped the Keystone XL pipeline and also put a moratorium on oil and gas exploration. And in the last year and a half now, they've stopped the permitting process for more oil exploration and drilling along the Gulf Coast, in Mexico and also in Alaska. All of these decisions and other hurdles and challenges they've put in front of the American energy industry contributed to the high prices that we are paying now. I think we should take immediate steps to reverse those policy decisions. But the answer to our high energy costs, literally, is underneath our feet. The American energy potential is tremendous. If it's right here, we can produce it cleaner and more efficiently, more environmentally friendly than anywhere else in the world, and we need to do that to make us energy independent once again.
Jarrod Sessler: The best way to deal with inflation is to increase supply, which will reduce the cost. The situation we have right now with gas prices, and really all of our energy prices, is incredibly crippling. Big trucks driving on the highway are spending multiple amounts more to move that product from one place to another. That increases the cost at every single step, which means that when you go to the store to buy something, it's going to cost you more. Trying to back that down over time is very difficult. America is filled with opportunists, and those costs will oftentimes end up staying higher for a longer period of time because people have to recover the investment that they've made. The biggest thing we need to do is open up supply. For example, with energy we need to obviously open the Keystone pipeline, we have the Atlantic Coast pipeline that was also shut down, we have a lot of oil leases that were not signed or that were reneged upon and those need to be opened up rapidly. We have hundreds of years of oil stored underneath this country that we ought to be tapping into, simultaneously coming up with new technology to help reinforce our existing energy systems.
Doug White: Americans are under a lot of pressure, but these pressures are not something that happened overnight. They are systemic. I think one of the biggest things that we need to focus on is the minimum wage. The United States, with too much emphasis on corporate growth and corporate profits, has worked to keep wages low. This is not good for us because of the fact that our internal economy, which gives us security, is now stalling. We need to remain financially independent, which means we need to be able to have a workforce that can afford to buy things, to spend, to be able to thrive rather than survive. So we need to be able to raise the income level of all people. If that means that we need to trade some profits, that's what we need to do. I believe that there's a sufficient amount of wealth for everybody. I believe that wealth generation is good, but not at the expense of keeping other people down because ultimately that is going to kill our economy.
What is the best way to address the tariffs which exist on U.S. exports?
Garcia: The best way to address the tariffs is to make sure, for example, our ranchers, we've got American U.S. beef that's homegrown that has to meet regulations and guidelines here in the states. But in other countries, they don't necessarily have to meet the same guidelines — strict guidelines. So we want to make sure that we can go ahead and possibly look at taxing that. You've got to meet these standards, and also labeling. We do want to put if it's USDA beef, it's here in the United States. We want to make sure that the consumer is aware. The American consumer needs to be fully aware, especially those that want to say, 'I support pro-U.S.A., all the way.' Well then guess what, they're gonna probably pay more for that for supporting an American job and supporting the American product. That's an individual choice. Nothing is wrong with the labeling, and it's something that we should be doing. But we do put much more restrictions overall than many other countries, and we need to be more fair to our American producers.
Gibson: That's actually something I'm working on right now with our leaders in the fruit industry here in the Valley. Tariffs are actually a major issue. It's much more of an issue than just our trade policies. I don't have that answer, but that is actually something that I'm in the middle of right now, speaking with agricultural leaders about developing that policy on tariffs.
Klippert: The best way to address tariffs that exist on U.S. exports is to do exactly what Trump did. If foreign nations are going to put tariffs on our products, well then you're going to feel the same change and we're gonna put tariffs on your products. If you want to have equal or balanced trade with us, the United States, then you had better treat us fairly and we will do the same to you. If not, you're going to experience high tariffs on your products that are coming into the United States.
Kobiesa: I traveled worldwide quite a bit, and when I was in China, what I found out is really disturbing. For example, when U.S.-made vehicles are being shipped to China, as soon as they arrive at the port, there is a tariff you have to pay equal to 28%. We pay that amount of taxes. On the other hand, whatever comes from China, it's not being taxed proportionally. We have to adjust all this. Number one, I would love to decouple from China, period. We need to basically bring as many jobs back to the United States and away from China. At the same time, we also have to look at Europe. The exchange tariffs, the exchange ratio tariffs, is completely disproportionate. We have to adjust it. We have to play the game as well as they do.
Newhouse: The state of Washington, and particularly the agricultural industry, we are one of the most trade-reliant states in the country. Our proximity to the Far East puts us in a tremendous position geographically to capitalize on our location, and we do. We have a great trading relationship as a state with many markets in the Far East, and I think we need to do all we can to foster those markets to make sure that the playing field is level between countries that we trade with. I think we need to work very hard to level that playing field and make sure it's fair. We can compete with anybody in the world if we have that fair marketplace. That has always been a high priority of mine to make sure we achieve that and allow our producers in the state of Washington to be successful.
Sessler: Tariffs are something that is very helpful and that Trump used in a helpful way to balance our trade in terms of exports. We need to make sure that we're exporting as much, if not more, than what we're importing. It's important for us to do as much as we can, here in America where we can control it. For example, many people are worried about the environmental impact of mining, which is done primarily in other countries now, but the reality is, mining still happens. If we do it here in America, it can happen in a cleaner, better way and we can produce a higher quality product just like we do with energy and everything else, including agriculture. I think tariffs are necessary. We have a situation here with exports and China that is going to drive up the cost of, for example, apples, which are very important. About 60% of the apples in the 4th district are exported. That supply chain will get broken because of the impact of this trade situation. Without tariffs, there's no way to restore that supply chain once it's broken.
White: I know the importance of our foreign markets to the United States, and more importantly, the role of the United States in global politics. Sadly, over the last administration, we pulled back from our role in global politics, and that greatly affected our earning potential overseas, cutting our farmers off from as much as 40% of the foreign market or more in some instances. I've also seen it affect our allies around the world because of the fact that we no longer stood up and defended our trade agreements with them. In doing so, they have now left and they are now more prone to the influence of China, which is now our greatest threat to our global economy and the United States' (economy) as well. I see the United States stepping back up to be the global leader and making sure that the markets remain free. We'll continue to be able to make sure that our allies around the world continue to thrive as we do.
