U.S. Rolls Out More Farm Aid as Soy Growers Urge Trade Cease-Fire

The Trump administration on Thursday unveiled details of a $16 billion aid package to help farmers hurt by President Trump’s trade war with China, as soybean growers from around the country converged on Washington to tell lawmakers that rural America is ready for a cease-fire. Farmers have been among the biggest casualties of the trade fight, with Beijing slowing — and in some cases ending — purchases of American agricultural goods as retaliation for Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports. They have also suffered from retaliatory tariffs that the European Union, Canada and Mexico placed on American farm goods after Mr. Trump slapped levies on foreign metals. The bailout is the second round of financial support for farmers, who received $12 billion in subsidies last year to help cushion the fallout from trade disputes. While Canada and Mexico lifted their retaliatory tariffs this year after Mr. Trump stopped taxing their metals, tariffs on the European Union continue and the bloc still has levies on American products like whiskey, orange juice and peanut butter. China has been among the biggest buyers of American agricultural products, snapping up goods like pork, cranberries, cotton, sorghum and soybeans. The program, which uses money from a depression-era fund, allows farmers earning less than $900,000 a year to receive payments if they produce one of the agricultural products that has faced retaliation from China. The first aid package drew criticism that it favored some products over others and attracted backlash after a study that found city residents who own shares in farms and relatives of farmers have been capitalizing on the bailout. Farmers also complained that the money was slow to be paid out and did little to cover their full losses. This time around, payments will be determined based on a farm’s size and location, with rates of $15 to $150 an acre. The size will depend on the effect of retaliatory tariffs in a particular county. No applicant can receive more than $500,000 worth of aid...MORE