As a Minnesota farmer, Mike Peterson is accustomed to dealing with slumping crop prices or damage from volatile weather. He had no way to prepare, however, for the fallout from a trade war with China that has cost American growers access to one of their most lucrative markets.

“I’ll be the first to admit that I originally supported the effort to secure better trade agreements and to hold bad actors accountable,” Peterson told the House Agriculture Committee’s panel on farm commodities in early May. “But the approach to these trade disputes has caused damage that I’m afraid it’ll take us decades to overcome.”