File photo
Washington, USA: President Donald Trump is set to announce a $12bn aid package for US farmers yesterday, a White House official told AFP, targeting a key support base hit by his trade policies.
The announcement is expected to be made at a roundtable event, an official said on condition of anonymity, adding that much of it involves providing one-time payments to row crop farmers.
Since Trump’s return to the White House in January, many US farmers have been battered by impacts of his wide-ranging tariffs, including retaliatory measures from trading partners.
However, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly yesterday pointed the finger at Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden for the struggles of US farmers, blaming what she called “woke DEI agricultural policies.”
“In contrast, President Trump is helping our agriculture industry by negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade,” Kelly said in a statement.
Washington’s trade row this year with superpower rival Beijing saw soybean exports plunge and Chinese buyers holding off new orders from the US autumn harvest.
Amid the lower demand, soybean prices fell as well, hitting the sector hard, although a recent trade truce sought to ensure renewed Chinese purchases of agriculture goods ranging from soybeans to sorghum.
Trump has also recently vowed to support US cattle farmers as beef prices surged in part due to a tighter supply of herds.
Costs had risen for various reasons including drought and lower imports from Mexico due to a pest in herds there, adding to cost-of-living pressures that American households are facing.
The situation has echoes of Trump’s first presidency, with retaliatory tariffs causing over $27bn in US agriculture export losses from 2018 to 2019.
The government, in turn, provided $23bn to assist farmers hit by trade disputes at the time.
