reply US media: US ginseng farmers hit by trade war

According to a report on the website of World radio magazine on March 16, Chinese and American consumers are embracing ginseng as health food and traditional medicine. Most American ginseng, or American ginseng, comes from a single county in Wisconsin. But demand for ginseng has dried up amid the ongoing trade war between China and the United States, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and the rise of anti-Asian rhetoric.Currently, about 95 percent of ginseng in the United States is produced in Marathon County, and most of it was exported to Asia before the Trump administration launched a trade war with China, the report said.Alan Moe writes about the growing crisis facing ginseng farmers for the People's Food website. He tells the story of the Hare family farm in Wisconsin. This family has been growing ginseng for four generations. Mo spoke to Joe Hale, who has been growing ginseng for 25 years."His ginseng business is booming -- or was before the epidemic and the trade war," Mo said. His business has been very successful."Mo said the ginseng industry is taking a hit now that President Donald Trump has started a trade war with China. Then the epidemic hit, and the industry took another big hit. Mo explained that the ginseng industry in the United States is export-oriented: 95 percent of its revenue comes from exports to East Asia. Travel restrictions imposed because of the outbreak between China and the United States have largely wiped out that revenue.Before the trade war began in 2018, the ginseng industry was reportedly generating between $50 million and $70 million a year in revenue. Annual revenues are now just $10 million to $15 million, and the price of ginseng has dropped from $50 a pound to $20 a pound.Mo found that an increase in anti-Asian rhetoric during the epidemic has also caused problems for ginseng growers. He spoke with Eric Hsu, president of Hsu Ginseng Group, a large Wisconsin ginseng company.After the trade war broke out, Hui's Ginseng Group had to change its business model, according to Hui. Before the trade war broke out, the majority of revenue came from exports to China; Now, most of their revenue comes from sales in the United States.