VIDALIA — A trade dispute between the United States and China could potentially affect the Miss-Lou by damaging the market for one of its most important crops — soybeans.

China ratcheted up the dispute by releasing a list of items that could see a 25-percent hike in tariffs, a retort to President Trump’s plan to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

Soybeans are not only the United States’ biggest export to China, but also vital to the Miss-Lou’s agricultural landscape, and any move that hurts the exportation of soybeans could mean trouble for the industry as a whole.

Local soybean farmer Noble Guedon said he is not sure how the tariffs would affect the soybean market precisely but also that anything that could potentially drive down the market could hurt local farmers.

“Whether in Concordia Parish, Adams County or in the Midwest, if (the tariffs) do anything to it that drives the cost down … it could be detrimental,” said Guedon, who farms 500 acres in Concordia Parish with his wife.

He said farmers have little margin of error with the way commodities are priced as it is.

“What we get for (soybeans and corn) is barely paying for what we pay for it,” Guedon said.

Soybeans and corn, Guedon said, are by-and-large the region’s most prolific crops, and the uncertain future of the former is concerning.

Senior Marketing Consultant for Brock Associates Kurt Barth, who consults local farmers, said the Delta is primarily a soybean export market. He said that these tariffs — if imposed — would pose a threat to the market.

He also said the outcome would hinge upon Brazil and Argentina, the world’s second and third biggest soybean producers, respectively, behind only the United States.

Barth said in theory, China could buy more from Brazil and/or work out a deal with Argentina to reduce its current export tariffs in a tradeoff for more business with China.

Those scenarios are hypothetical, however, and Barth said he thinks China could be hurting itself if it did elect to impose new tariffs.

“It is a real threat, (but) I think it’s sort of unlikely that a 25-percent tariff on all U.S. beans will stick,” Barth said.

Rather, Barth said this move could simply be a negotiating tool being used to try and gain leverage in the trade dispute.

Guedon said he hopes that is the case and that the two countries can work out a solution that will not hurt farmers.

At the moment, Guedon said he is concerned, but not overly fearful. If the dispute lingers, however, that could change.

“If we were talking a month from now and it was still fluctuating and it still hadn’t settled out, I’d be scared to death,” Guedon said. “But being that this happened overnight, and we’re 12 hours out, it’s not keeping me up yet.”