President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion aid package at a roundtable Monday for struggling farmers. In addition to the president, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers, and farmers affected were also present.
Around $11 billion of the funds will go to the Farmers Assistance Program from the Department of Agriculture as a one-time payment to farmers who produce row crops such as soybeans, rice, cotton, wheat, and potatoes. According to the agriculture secretary, another $1 billion is being held back for other specialty crop producers.
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This program is supposed to help the farmers “recover from years of unjustified trade actions on American agricultural goods by foreign governments, accumulated inflation costs under the previous administration and other market disruptions,” according to one White House official.
As a result of the trade war, China halted the import of U.S. soybeans and other agricultural products earlier this year. In October, Beijing began purchasing soybeans again after Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping reached a tentative trade agreement.
At the roundtable, Trump mentioned a recent call he held with Xi where they discussed Beijing’s promise to purchase American soybeans. “I think he’s going to do even more than he promised to do… and what he promised to do was a lot,” Trump said.
