Chicago mayor goes to China to secure rail car deal

Despite US President Donald Trump's new tariff threats on $200 billion worth of Chinese products, state and local leaders have expressed a desire for closer business ties with the world's second-largest economy.

As the US-China trade dispute escalates, businesses are worried that trade and investment might be disrupted, which prompted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to lead a mission to China this week to secure local jobs and a $1.3 billion deal.

A venture between the Chicago Transit Authority and China Railway Rolling Stock Corp is expected to create 350 jobs by assembling 846 rail cars in the Windy City.

Aside from potential job loss, the tariffs also have implications for residents, as it would substantially drive up the cost of purchasing the new rail cars over the next 10 years.

During his weeklong visit, Emanuel met with Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan and CRRC executives.

Thanks to the "productive meeting", the project, which was jeopardized by Trump's recent moves to impose steep tariffs on Chinese goods, will move forward with Chicago employees soon traveling to China for training, according to a press release from the mayor's office on Thursday.

"This project and the hundreds of jobs it will create should not fall victim to the Trump trade war," Emanuel said. "Thanks to Chicago's strong international partnerships this project is moving forward and creating a new economic engine on Chicago's Southeast Side."

Compared with those Chicago workers, soybean farmers in Illinois are not so lucky. They now bank on their president putting an end to the trade war.

"Most crop farmers I talk with will need a resolution by harvest time," Michele Aavang, a member of board of directors at Illinois Farm Bureau, told China Daily. The soybean harvest will most likely begin around Oct 1.

The Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods on July 6. Beijing responded by imposing similar duties on the same amount of US imports.

American soybean farmers are among the hardest hit, because China is the US' largest trade customer for soybeans.

The timing is bad because US farm income is half of what it was just five years ago, and the margins are currently "razor-slim to non-existent", said Aavang, who is also a soybean farmer.

"How long will farmers and ranchers be able to survive?" she asked. "Many have been adversely impacted already, as the market has been reflecting the impact of tariffs. Some grain farmers have the ability to store their product, but that is not the case for those raising livestock.

"Like any business, we need stability in order to make decisions, both short-term and long-term. At this point, we only have uncertainty, making it impossible for the farmer, and the banker, to complete any business planning," she added.

The situation is the same in Arkansas, where agriculture is the No. 1 industry, and soybeans are the state's largest export. If the trade dispute continues to intensify, it is feared that many small soybean farmers will be forced out of the business.

The worries have led Trump supporters, including Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, to urge a quick resolution for the sake of the nearly 48,000 family-owned farms in his state.

"Farmers are always the first casualty in a trade war," Hutchinson told CNBC on Monday.