President Donald Trump’s $12 billion financial aid package for U.S. farmers who are currently reeling from the fallout of his administration’s trade and tariff policies, alongside low market prices, is being criticized by prominent economists, analysts, and even some farmers themselves.
American Farmers Struggling Amid Tariffs
Farmers across the U.S., a core part of Trump's political base, have increasingly ended up on the losing side of his trade wars over the past year, with key commodities such as soybeans seeing their export demand evaporate, as big buyers such as China shifted their purchases elsewhere in retaliation.
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Although China resumed buying U.S. soybeans after the October trade truce, with its largest single-day purchase in more than two years at roughly 1 million tons two weeks ago, any path back to pre-trade-war norms is expected to be a gradual process.
In the meantime, the farm sector is still feeling the strain, with the interplay of geopolitics, shifting trade policies and volatile weather conditions continuing to weigh on producers.
Why Not Bailout Consumers Too?
Economist Justin Wolfers sees the bailout package as a tacit admission by the administration that their trade and tariff policies throughout this year “have hurt Americans.”
He also said that if farmers can be given a bailout for the costs they’ve incurred due to Trump’s tariffs, “Why not bail out consumers who are paying more for imported goods?” The comment underscores Wolfers' long-held position that tariffs effectively function as a tax on Americans.
American Farmer Says ‘We Don’t Want A Bailout, We Want A Market’
The Democratic Party, in a post on X, shared a video featuring an American soybean farmer telling FactPost News “we don't want a bailout, we want a market.”
The farmer goes on to state that these funds should instead be going towards caring for senior citizens and the Affordable Care Act, while adding that the bailout is nothing more than a band-aid. “What Trump is doing is destroying our markets, and when those markets disappear, we’re not gonna get them back,” he said.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) joined in on the criticism, framing the bailouts as an admission that the tariffs are not beneficial for farmers. “Who knew?” he adds, referring to his repeated assertions that tariffs are detrimental to the American farm economy.
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