The Trump administration announced Tuesday that they would be offering up to $12 billion in emergency relief for farmers who have been hurt by the president's trade war. The move is an effort to help food producers in the United States from suffering financial losses that would be a direct result of President Trump's trade policies.
The United States Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that the funds will come from a direct assistance program geared to help farmers with food purchase and distribution and one that's specifically geared toward trade.
“The actions today are a firm statement that other nations cannot bully our agricultural producers to force the United States to cave in,” Sonny Perdue, the secretary of agriculture told reporters on a call that announced the program. “This administration will not stand by while our hard-working agricultural producers bear the brunt of unfriendly and illegal tariffs.”
The European Union, Mexico, China and Canada have responded to President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum and billions more on Chinese products by imposing taxes on U.S. products targeting rural areas. Soybeans, pork, sugar, orange juice, are among the many products that now face tariffs in other countries making American products less desirable.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Trump's tariffs have already had an impact on the beef industry, with more than 2.5 billion pounds of meat piling up in cold-storage warehouses across the country as worldwide exports slow.
Trump has argued that the trade war is a negotiating strategy designed to bring other countries to the table for better trade deals and that the temporary pain being inflicted is a small price to pay compared to the potential economic gains.
Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate. This should have taken place many years ago but,as the saying goes, better late than never!
Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that - and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!