North Carolina Gov. Cooper asks Trump to pull back on tariffs

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper wants President Donald Trump to draw back recent tariff increases, saying an escalating trade war is already hurting state farmers and companies that rely on aluminum and steel.

Cooper wrote a letter Thursday to the president telling him retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products by other countries resulting from the administration's increases stand to harm several North Carolina commodity exports.

Cooper mentioned specifically pork heading to Mexico and China and tobacco going to Turkey, China and the European Union. He says North Carolina exports of these products alone to the affected regions are $550 million annually.

The governor says rising prices for all U.S. steel and aluminum also increases costs for anyone who uses them in their production processes.

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Associated Press