Back in 2018, I wrote about Trump’s foolish protectionism backfiring against American farmers. But rather than reverse the mistake of higher taxes on trade, Trump decided to take more money from taxpayers and give it to farmers.
Sadly, Trump didn’t learn from that blunder in his first term. He’s once again imposed higher taxes on trade. Once again, that foolish step has backfired against America’s agricultural sector.
And, once again, Trump is compounding his mistake with more farm welfare.
Here are some details from a report in the New York Times by Alan Rappeport, Ana Swanson, and Kevin Draper.
President Trump rolled out a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers on Monday as he looks to shore up the finances of some of his most loyal supporters whose financial fortunes have been hurt by his trade war. The rescue package, which was unveiled at an event with farmers at the White House, comes as Mr. Trump’s trade policies have hurt America’s agriculture sector. While Mr. Trump’s plan to raise tariffs was intended to spur domestic production and open export markets it has actually closed off sales for many U.S. farmers. …the money will go to producers of corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, rice, wheat and other row crops. The payments to the farmers will be made by the end of February. The Trump administration will initially distribute $11 billion and is reserving another $1 billion to support growers of fruits and vegetables as needed. …A $12 billion bailout would cover only a third of farmers’ losses.
