Farmers getting $12B bailout from Trump after trade war pain
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A farmer operates a cotton stripper during a cotton harvest on a farm near Corn, Okla., on Nov. 19. Photo: Nick Oxford/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump on Monday revealed a $12 billion plan to bail out American farmers.
Why it matters: The president's trade war and sagging crop prices have bludgeoned the already struggling U.S. agricultural sector.
- China stopped buying U.S. soybeans for several months this year in retaliation over U.S. tariffs, crushing the largest export market for American farmers.
- That's added to the pressure on producers, who've been getting squeezed since 2022 by falling commodity prices and rising production costs.
Driving the news: The bailout includes $11 billion in a "bridge payment" to distressed farmers with row crops, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a roundtable with farmers at the White House.
- She said another $1 billion will be held back for specialty crop farmers as the government assesses their needs.
"This relief will provide much needed certainty to farmers as they get this year's harvest to market and look ahead to next year's crops," Trump said at the roundtable, adding "this money would not be possible without tariffs."
- Trump said China had also committed to purchase more than $40 billion in American soybeans — and "I think he's gonna do even more than he promised to do."
State of play: More than half of U.S. farms are losing money, "forcing families to rely on off-farm income just to survive," according to letters from the American Farm Bureau Federation to Trump and Congress.
- "This country and our farm economy is facing a crisis that we inherited that most of these farmers have not seen in their lifetime," Rollins said Monday at the roundtable.
What they're saying: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, said farmers need help but a "one-time payment is not a long-term fix" after Trump's tariffs scrambled trade.
- "Only restoring these markets can do that," Klobuchar said in a statement. "While more details are needed, as announced this assistance may fall short for many farmers who have been harmed by the President's reckless tariffs."
What to watch: Trump also said his administration will remove "a lot of the environmental restrictions" from farm equipment made by the likes of John Deere.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional statements.
