The Trump administration plans to offer up to $12 billion in aid to farmers hit by tariffs on their goods, an emergency bailout intended to ease the pain caused by Trump's escalating trade war in key electoral states, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue told reporters Tuesday.
"President Trump has promised since day one that he had the back of every farmer and rancher," Perdue said. He said the assistance was a short-term solution, but that it would offer "Trump and his administration time to work on long-term trade deals."
The announcement came Tuesday afternoon, hours after the president proclaimed on Twitter that "Tariffs are the greatest!" The aid will be facilitated by the Commodity Credit Corp, an agency set up during the Great Depression, and will not require congressional approval.
The aid will come from a mix of programs overseen by the USDA, including direct payments to producers of some goods, including soybeans, as well as distribution assistance for producers of goods that can be easily provided to food banks, such as fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, and some meats. A third program, looking to build international markets, is open to producers of all commodities.
Shares of Deere & Company, the Illinois-based tractor maker that owns the brand John Deere, were up more than 3 percent after news of the bailout plan was reported earlier Tuesday.
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04.28.2025