President Donald Trump is considering a massive aid program for American farmers, according to several media, raising the idea potentially financed with tariffs while the agricultural industry navigates between low prices of raw materials and high operating costs in the middle of Trump’s commercial war.
Key data
The aid package could provide 10,000 million dollars or more to US farmers, according to The Wall Street Journal, which quoted anonymous people familiar with the discussions that said the money could begin to be distributed in the coming months.
Trump does not have enough money at the bottom of the Basic Products Credit Corporation of the Department of Agriculture (4 billion dollars) to completely finance the rescue, Politico reported, and added that Trump officials are evaluating how the money obtained from tariffs could complement payments to farmers.
The official details about the rescue are scarce, although the secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besent, told CNBC that on Tuesday information about the “substantial support” to the farmers would be published.
Trump told journalists in the Oval office on Thursday that his administration will provide “part of that money from tariffs” to farmers, “who, for a while, will be harmed until tariffs begin to benefit them.”
Find out: Trump points to agreements in Pharmacy, AI, Energy and Mining before the mid -period elections
What to pay attention to
It is likely that Congress has to vote to authorize the use of tariff funds for rescue, according to Politico, which pointed out that such a vote would trigger a battle between Democrats and Republicans after the two parties failed to ensure a fund of financing law that could have prevented the closure of the Government on Wednesday.
Tangent
The text messages seen on Besent’s phone during a United Nations session last week seemed to show concern about the Trump administration decision to grant a rescue package of 20,000 million dollars to Argentina, which, after the announcement of the aid, began selling soybeans to China. “This gives China more influence on us,” said one of the messages. China, who bought American soybeans worth $ 12.6 billion last year, has not bought American soy since May due to retaliation tariffs.
Large number
100 dollars per acre. That is the amount that American soy producers could lose this year, according to data from the Department of Agriculture.
Key history
Trump used the fund of the Credit Corporation for Basic Products of the Department of Agriculture to provide farmers 28,000 million dollars in help during the commercial war with China during its first mandate. Although Trump’s commercial war with China has affected soybeans, the main American agricultural export product together with corn, farmers have also been pressed by inflation and the increase in operational costs, which affect equipment, fertilizers and seeds, according to the US Federation of Agricultural Offices. Bad credit conditions will probably aggravate agricultural losses and bankruptcy in the coming days, added the US Federation of Agricultural Offices.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
Follow the information about the world in our international section
