Trump is planning a $12bn bailout for US farmers hurt by its trade war | City A.M.
US President Donald Trump has today unveiled an aid programme for US farmers totalling $12bn (£9.1bn), in a bid to help those affected by international trade disputes.
Dubbed a “short-term relief strategy to protect agricultural producers while the administration works on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals” by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US is planning to provide subsidies to farmers who have experienced a surplus in crops left unsold after other countries raised taxes on products such as soybeans.
Rural states have been hit particularly hard by Trump’s trade war with China, the European Union and others, and will be seeking to rectify the situation as the majority of voters in those states backed the President in his 2016 election.
Trump defended his tariffs as “the greatest!” earlier today in a series of tweets, ahead of a meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Washington tomorrow.
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“This is a short-term solution to allow President Trump time to work on long-term trade deals to benefit agriculture and the entire U.S. economy,” said US secretary of agriculture Sonny Perdue in a statement.
The USDA’s programme will counteract an estimated $11bn in potential losses as a result of the ongoing trade war. It will consist a mix of direct payments to farmers of specific produce, purchasing orders of affected commodities with an unexpected surplus, and promotion of US trade to develop new export markets.
Nebraskan senator Ben Sasse, a fellow Republican to President Trump, said the trade war is “cutting the legs out from under farmers” while the White House sees fit to spend $12bn on “gold crutches”.
As a result of the news, shares of farm-related companies like Deere & Co, Caterpillar and AGCO rose as much as four per cent.
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