Iowa Buckling Under the Weight of the U.S.-China Trade War: Report

Getting pretty close now. The midterms to decide control of Congress are seven weeks from today, today being Tuesday. So six Senate races are believed to be in the toss-up category, could go either way according to our Fox News power rankings. And one of those toss-ups is Iowa. Democratic State Rep Josh Turek with a four-point lead over Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson in the Fox News poll from June, obviously that was a few months ago. They are facing off to replace Republican Joni Ernst, who is retiring from this seat. So the GOP is trying to hold this seat. Ashley Hinson joins us now. We also have invited Josh Turek and we are waiting to hear when he will be available to join us and we'll have him on as well. Great to have you with us, Representative Hinson. Thank you for joining me today. Of course, Martha. So it's been a long time since there has been a Democratic senator from Iowa. I think Tom Harkin was the last to hold that seat. Why is this seat in play? You know, I think you always have to go out and earn Iowans vote every single time. And it seems every election cycle, everybody looks at Iowa and says Iowa is a purple state. And I think Iowa is just a very independent-minded state. We're the first in the nation caucus state. So you have to go out and talk with Iowans and listen to them. And they expect you to answer their tough questions and then deliver results in Washington, D.C. And I'm proud of what I've been able to do serving in Congress. I've been here in my third term now. And I have a strong record of actually listening, delivering those results for taxpayers, listening to them about the border, the concerns that they had about safety and security, working with the president to get that done. My opponent is an absentee legislator. He didn't show up 58 percent of the time this year. Any time you're not shown up for work in Iowa that much, you know you're going to get fired, not get a promotion. And I think Iowans are going to look at him and say he's too liberal and they're going to reject that come November. All right. Let's take a look at this is from Politico and it talks about the potential path because we always sort of break down what the path would be for Republican control to stay in place versus a Democrat path to get the majority in the Senate. And Politico reported Iowa is also buckling under the weight of an ongoing Trump led trade war with China. The state soybean industry alone could suffer losses of one hundred and ninety one million to one point four billion while manufacturing and the ongoing war in Iran are also tension points. So what is your response to whether or not Iowa is buckling under the weight of the trade situation and also the increased tensions with with Canada? Yeah, well, I just met with folks from the National Corn Growers today, the Iowans who were in my office visiting. You know, they are resilient. They are working very hard. I'm working on lowering their input costs, which is one of the number one things that I hear from our farmers needs to change. I'm working on lowering those fertilizer costs and making sure we have more domestic production. So I was farmers just need someone who's going to offer solutions and then provide more access to market markets. So I'm encouraged that President Xi is, of course, coming to visit with President Trump. We need a trade deal with China. We need a trade deal with Canada, too, but it has to be fair. We know that I've been on the China Select Committee for several years and China has been trying to cheat and get many products into the United States via via Canada as well. Many of those companies have actually paid serious fines because of their malign trade practices. So we need to be able to hold them accountable to and make sure our farmers get a fair deal. So you think that the pain of the tariffs that has been, you know, perhaps hopefully short term for some is worth it if the outcome provides a more fair playing field for trade? We have to have a fair playing field for trade, absolutely. But we also need to make sure that we're getting results out of that. So I think that's what I hear from farmers. They want to see some resolution here. They want a definite resolution to the conflict in Iran. Everybody does. I think we want to get out of that as soon as we can. And certainly we want to have a fair trade deal as well. And so I know that Jameson Greer, the trade rep, was actually visiting the Iowa State Fair just a few weeks ago. So I had a good conversation with him about what Iowa needs out of these deals. And I believe that they are going to be able to deliver a good trade deal for our farmers. So Turk is saying that for six times you've continued to vote for the war in Iran. Do you stand by those votes supporting supporting the war, supporting this initiative against Iran? Yeah, well, as I said, I don't think anyone wants a forever war. And I certainly am in that same boat. You know, I put my mom hat on every time I take that vote and think about our next generations of fighters. I have teenage boys myself. Look, Iowans want a decisive end and a successful end, which to me means that Iran does not have the capability of accessing a nuclear weapon. The terrorists running Iran right now do not have access to a nuclear weapon that they can use against the American people. And that has to be the objective. OK. Ashley Hansen, Representative, thank you very much. Running for the Senate seat that Joni Ernst has occupied for some time. We look forward to covering the race. And thank you very much for joining me today.