While the Senate debates the Big, Beautiful Bill, a former White House Ag Advisor is calling foul on its language toward tobacco, warning it could cost the industry big time.
A provision within the reconciliation package would remove tobacco from the drawback program, which allows manufacturers to get reimbursed for tariffs on imported products that go back to the international market.
Ray Starling was an ag advisor during the first Trump Administration. He says a lot of American tobacco products are blended with overseas leaves.
“You’re using import, blending that, in many cases, with it with domestic or American leaf, and then you’re putting that product back out on the international market. And so that’s why you’re paying a tax when that original product comes in here, but that’s why you get the credit when you push that product back out into the global market.”
Starling says the impact of losing the drawback program would be large, as much as $100 million, which he says is around a quarter of the crop.
