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Trump to announce trade aid for farmers

By CATHERINE BOUDREAU, ADAM BEHSUDI and HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH

The Trump administration is planning to ease fears of a trade war by announcing later Tuesday billions of dollars in aid to farmers hurt by tariffs, according to two sources familiar with the plan.

The administration's plan will use two commodity support programs in the farm bill, as well as the Agriculture Department’s broad authority to stabilize the agricultural economy during times of turmoil.

The plan has been in the works for months. It seeks to ensure U.S. farmers and ranchers — a key constituency for President Donald Trump and Republicans — don’t bear the brunt of an escalating trade fight with China, the European Union and other major economies as the administration pursues an aggressive course to rebalance America's trade relationships.

Trump's moves to slap tariffs on imports from some of America‘s largest trading partners have prompted retaliation against U.S. farm goods like pork, beef, soybeans, sorghum and a range of fruits.

Trump, back in April, directed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to devise a plan to mitigate any financial damage to U.S. agricultural producers’ bottom lines that could result from the ongoing trade battles. But the administration has so far offered few details on the amount of aid that would be provided and how it would be distributed.

As recently as last month, Perdue said it was premature to determine whether his agency needed to provide farmers with subsidies to offset trade losses because it was too soon to gauge the effects of retaliatory tariffs on farmers.