The federal government is providing billions of dollars in aid to American farmers who are suffering during the trade war sparked by President Trump’s imposition of historically high tariffs on countries around the world, and some Republican lawmakers are considering providing billions more through the appropriations bills currently working their way through Congress.
Last month, the White House unveiled a $12 billion aid package for farmers, provided under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, the same Depression-era law Trump used to provide $28 billion in aid to farmers during his first administration. Politico’s Grace Yarrow reports that a group of Republicans are now working on a plan to provide as much as $15 billion in additional aid. The lawmakers involved include Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, who heads the Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture; Rep. G.T. Thompson of Pennsylvania, House Agriculture Committee chair; and Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, who leads the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
The value of the total aid package is still under discussion, with Thompson indicating that he expects it to be more than $10 billion. An unnamed insider provided the $15 billion estimate.
“We’re looking at exactly what the need is and how it would be dispersed,” Thompson told Politico.
Thompson added that the aid package would likely include both “row crop” and “specialty crop” farmers, and possibly producers who work with lumber.