Trump Offers Trade Aid to Farmers, but Some Question Its Fairness
by Helena Bottemiller Evich, Catherine Boudreau and Liz Crampton (Politico) The Trump administration on Monday detailed how it will dole out $6.3 billion in aid to assist farmers stung by retaliatory tariffs — and it’s already sparking backlash from some sectors where industry leaders say growers won’t get their fair share.
The announcement represents the first round of payments — USDA officials said Monday they will monitor how ongoing trade disputes affect farmers and that a second installment of cash could be provided to address any further losses. USDA has budgeted up to $12 billion for potential distribution.
The plan unveiled by the Agriculture Department includes $4.7 billion in direct payments to row crop growers, including corn, wheat and cotton, as well as to pork and dairy producers. The vast majority of the direct payments — some $3.6 billion — will go to growers of soybeans, America’s top agricultural export.
Soybeans now fetch $2 less per bushel than they did in March, when President Donald Trump began to slap new tariffs on Chinese exports, setting off a tit-for-tat trade battle that has resulted in billions of dollars of lost value for a crop that earlier this year surpassed corn as America’s most widely grown commodity.
The overwhelming share of direct payments that are slated for soy has incensed other agricultural sectors, prompting industry groups to point out that their slice of the pie is not even close to covering losses that their growers have suffered from retaliation brought on by Trump’s aggressive trade tactics.
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But the way USDA structured the plan means that farmers in Midwestern states like Indiana and Iowa, which backed Trump in 2016, are on track to receive huge sums of cash ahead of the midterm elections in November, while major produce and nut-growing states, like the Democratic stronghold of California, aren’t in line to receive big checks from the government.
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Many farmers, who tend to vote Republican, have argued that they want the Trump administration to broker new deals to expand overseas markets for agricultural goods, not pay producers for getting walloped in the ongoing trade disputes with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union. READ MORE
UPDATE 2-U.S. government to pay $4.7 bln in tariff-related aid to farmers (Reuters)
Iowa leaders react to US-Mexico trade deal (KWWL)
Congress, farm groups, others, react to Trump farmer bailout plan (High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal)
China’s tariffs hurting U.S. soybean exports (Biofuels Digest)
Trump’s Relationship With American Farmers Is Soiled Because Of Biofuels Stance And Trade War (Forbes)
Second round of tariff-related aid to farmers may come in December: USDA (Reuters)
Nobody Wins When Countries Erect Trade Barriers (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Global Renewable Fuels Alliance)
China Looks to Influence Iowa in Trade War Over Trump Tariffs (Bloomberg)
Ag Policy Blog: Study Looks at Impact of Trade Disruptions on Iowa Economy (DTN The Progressive Farmer)
King, Trump Hold Oval Office Meeting on China IP Theft, Trade, Ethanol (KIOW)
Trump Pushes the Ethanol Blend Wall (Daily Sun)
