Trump Pulls The Rug Out From Underneath West Virginia's Coal Sector
President Donald Trump just pulled a fast one on West Virginia—a state that helped elect him twice, with 70% of the vote each time. And the trade war he’s started could really hurt the state’s struggling coal industry—one that provides half of all U.S. coal exports to China.
The president will hit Chinese imports with a massive 84% tariff hike Wednesday, ratcheting up the tariff war; China fired back Wednesday morning. The day before, Trump signed a series of executive orders to placate coal country, portending to extend the lives of coal plants and promote coal exports — a move that the Sierra Club said guts pollution and safety controls while raising energy bills on working class Americans.
Since Trump first came into office in 2017, he has bemoaned China’s economic success, calling it a function of unfair trade practices. So, he started slapping tariffs on goods from China in 2018—and now he has upped the stakes. But China is not taking it sitting down. It has hit back even harder—this time on coal. That means American coal is now pricier than in Australia, Russia, and Indonesia, making them potentially more attractive markets. That’s a significant blow to West Virginia.
The Ohio River Valley Institute examined the potential impact. It said China, Mexico, and Canada are the region’s three biggest trading partners; in 2024, they collectively bought $100 billion in goods from West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2025/04/09/trump-pulls-the-rug-out-from-underneath-west-virginias-coal-sector/