As tariffs rise amid an escalating trade war, North Carolina tobacco farmers hope for a trade deal to be brokered before the late summer market opens.
North Carolina leads the nation in tobacco exports, producing 260.1 million pounds annually, accounting for 60% of US tobacco production.
Brent Leggett, a first-generation farmer in Nash County, has a large operation totaling 4,000 acres, 450 of which are tobacco. They also raise sweet potatoes, cotton, peanuts, soybeans, corn, watermelons, and even a roadside strawberry stand. Leggett Farms employs 10 full-time employees and about 90 H2A workers seasonally.
“Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty, but the crop is just being planted,” Leggett told the Carolina Journal. “Some growers have chosen to reduce their planting some.”
According to Leggett, farmers are maintaining the status quo while watching the news and anticipating what is coming next. Most markets open around Aug. 20, and Leggett said that most farmers, including himself, remain optimistic that some negotiation or trade deal can be appropriated by then.
“I’m still bullish on American agriculture, but I do know that American agriculture has not always been treated fairly in trade negotiations or trade deals,” concluded Leggett. “One of my biggest concerns is that everything we do in North Carolina and the United States operates in a regulated economy; we have the EPA and the US Department of Labor. We’re under so many regulations that none of these foreign countries are under. They sell their products at the same price we get for ours. The American farmer needs to be looked after.”
According to data from the Office of the US Trade Representative, in 2024, North Carolina exported $5.9 billion in goods to China, $1.2 billion to Japan, $13 billion to Asia, and $9.7 billion to the European Union. In 2022, North Carolina exported $533 million in tobacco.
Tobacco distributors have commented that manufacturing remains robust and suppliers are negotiating with customers.
“Our US manufacturing is very robust; we’ve recently added 300 manufacturing positions at our US factories, mainly dedicated to our growing smokeless portfolio,” a spokesperson for RJ Reynolds told the Carolina Journal. ”For any of our products or components manufactured outside the US, as many businesses are currently doing, we’re working with our long-time suppliers to find outcomes and solutions that align with everyone’s goals.”
North Carolina has 822 tobacco farms, generating a revenue of $557 million and adding $197 million to the state’s GDP, according to Regulatory Smoke: The Economic Impacts of Proposed FDA Tobacco Regulations, a report from the John Locke Foundation. Tobacco manufacturers in the state generate $36 billion in output and contribute $31 billion to the state’s GDP, employing approximately 5,000 workers and paying them $370 million in wages. The tobacco wholesale sector brings in $15.3 billion in revenue, adds $9 billion to the GDP, and supports around 4,500 jobs.
The imposed tariffs could result in a significant downturn in these numbers. International markets, such as China, could also see a substantial export downturn due to increased tariffs, which would have a trickle-down effect on the state’s tobacco farmers.
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