TJ Cox Statement on GOP Trade War Threatening the Central Valley’s Economy

FRESNO — This weekend, it was announced that China will be levying new taxes on agricultural products crucial to the economy of the Central Valley, following the Trump Administration’s unilateral decision to raise tariffs on Chinese goods. Central Valley business leader TJ Cox released the following statement:

“Trump’s trade war is devastating to Central Valley small businesses, farmers, and workers. Tariffs on our almonds, grape and dairy products couldn’t have come at a worse time. We should be enacting policies that help our farmers, not hurt their ability to thrive and grow our local economy. My primary business is nut processing and manufacturing, so I know how important it is that our local businesses can sell their goods to customers around the world. These tariffs, along with this administration’s focus on annihilating our immigrant workforce, are dangerous and irresponsible. Meanwhile, all we get from Representative David Valadao is, ‘I’m monitoring the situation.’ This is why we need change, now more than ever.”

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ABOUT TJ COX

TJ Cox is a California native and business leader who is the founder and President of the Central Valley NMTC Fund (CVNF), a small business which invests in socially and economically disadvantaged communities throughout the Central Valley. Starting from a single dollar in 2011, Cox has since raised and invested over $65 million into projects that have created over 1,500 jobs. His funding for five new community health clinics has delivered healthcare to 26,000 Central Valley residents.

CVNF investments have also spurred the development of new non-profit and educational opportunities such as Rescue the Children, an innovative campus for at-risk women and children, the West Hills Community College’s Farm of the Future, which trains young men and women for careers in agriculture, and the award-winning North Fork Bioenergy Plant that takes dead trees from the Sierras and converts them into clean energy. An agricultural entrepreneur, TJ is also the founder of an almond processing business and recently completed construction of a one hundred million pound per year organic nut pasteurizing plant. Previously, TJ served as project manager for Habitat for Humanity and led an international team of volunteers to Armenia to build homes as part of the organization’s global outreach program. TJ lives in Fresno with his wife, Kathleen Murphy, M.D, a pediatric intensive care physician, and their four children.

You can follow the campaign at TJCoxForCongress.com and on Twitter and Facebook.