US President Donald Trump has unveiled a$12bn (£9bn) farm aid package aimed at helping farmers impacted by low crop
prices and the administration's ongoing trade wars.
Most of the money –$11bn – is earmarked for one-time payments to farmersfor row crops as part of the agriculture department's Farmer Bridge Assistance
programme, with another billion reserved for crops not covered by the
programme.
While farmers have broadly supported Trump,the agriculture sector has been disrupted by trade disputes during his second
term, particularly with China.
Also on Monday, Trump threatened to hitMexico with an additional 5% tariff in a row over water supplies to US farmers.
The White House says the aid package willhelp farmers suffering from "years of unjustified trade actions" and
accumulated inflation.
Trump made the announcement during an eventat the White House, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture
Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Members of Congress and corn, cotton,sorghum, soybean, rice, cattle, wheat and potato farmers were also in
attendance.
"Maximising domestic farm productionis a big part of how we will make America affordable again and bring down
grocery prices," Trump said.
Sorghum and soybean farmers have been hithard by the Trump administration's trade dispute with China, the greatest
importer of their crops.
Trump's farmer bailout raises fears abouttrade war winners and losers
According to a White House official, thepayments are intended to help farmers market this year's harvest and plan for
next year's crops, as well as act as a bridge until the administration's
policies "deliver a better market environment".
Rollins said the last $1bn would be heldback to help officials understand the state of "specialty crops" and
ensure that the government is "making every forward moving position that
we need to".
When asked if further farm aid packageswere planned, Trump said "it depends" on how the market develops.
"The farmers don't want aid," hesaid. "They want to have a level playing field."
The announcement comes as polls suggestAmericans are increasingly concerned about rising costs - an issue which Trump
has at times characterised as a "hoax" and a "con job"
perpetrated by Democrats.
It also followed complaints from US farmersafter they lost access to customers in China as a result of Trump's trade
policies.
For example, China is the world's biggestmarket for soybeans and has in recent decades been a major buyer from the US.
But Beijing effectively shut the door onAmerican soybean imports for months after Trump hit Chinese goods with new
levies earlier this year.
Later on Monday, Trump threatened to imposea new 5% tariff on Mexico, accusing it of violating an agreement that gives
American farmers access to water.
"It is very unfair to our US Farmerswho deserve this much needed water," he posted on social media.
Trump was referring to a more than80-year-old treaty that grants the US water from Rio Grande tributaries.
For decades the US has accused Mexico ofnot meeting the terms of the agreement.
Mark Legan, a livestock, corn and soybeanfarmer in Putnam County, Indiana, told the BBC that the government aid would
"help our bottom line"
As crop prices have fallen andprofitability has plummeted, he could use the funds to help replace tractors
and other machinery - investments he has put on hold.
During his first administration, Trump alsoprovided aid packages to farmers, including $22bn in 2019 and another $46bn in
a 2020 package that also included relief from the Covid pandemic.
Mr Legan said he believed the new packagewould be similar to what he received during the first Trump term, in that it
would not resolve persistent cost pressures and shrinking export markets, he
said.
"The problem is still that we havehigh costs of production," Mr Legan said, pointing to record high prices
for crop protection chemicals and seeds.
"While some markets have opened up,we're still not back to exporting as much ag products as we have in the
past," he added.
Another Illinois farmer, Brad Smith, heardnews of the $12bn package while at the Illinois Farm Bureau State Convention in
Chicago.
"None of us really love it, but we'renot in a position where we can be turning it down," he said. "We hope
we can reduce the need for anything like this going forward."
If he does receive funds from thegovernment, the money will likely be in his hands for three days, he said,
before spending it to clear outstanding bills and hopefully buy seeds,
chemicals and fertilisers for next year's crop.
Mr Smith said that distributing governmentaid to farmers who need it the most, rather than to larger farms, has been a
challenge in the past.
Following an October meeting between Trumpand Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House said China had
committed to buying at least 12 million metric tonnes of US soybeans by the end
of 2025, followed by 25 million metric tonnes annually for the next three
years.
So far, China has only purchasedapproximately one-quarter of that amount.
Those purchases, however, have accelerated,and Bessent told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that China is likely to meet the
goal by the end of February.
Asked why a farm aid package was necessary,Bessent said "the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in
the trade negotiations".
"We are going to create this bridgebecause... agriculture is all about the future," he said. "You've got
to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good."
On Saturday, he signed an executive ordercreating food supply chain security "task forces" and assessing
"anti-competitive behaviour" in the agricultural sector.