WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled a $12 billion aid package for American farmers, the latest government effort to shore up a key political constituency hurt by the financial fallout from his trade policies.
Farm groups and Republican farm-state lawmakers have sought the aid in part to support farmers with purchases of seeds, fertilizer and other expenses for next year’s growing season.
The aid package, which Trump says will come from tariff revenues, aims to support a crucial voting bloc that has largely stood by Trump despite facing billions in lost sales from his trade war with China.
Trump announced the aid at a roundtable at the White House alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and members of Congress. Growers of corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, rice, cattle, wheat and potatoes attended the roundtable, a White House official said.
“This relief will provide much needed certainty to farmers as they get this year’s harvest to market and look ahead to next year’s crops, and it’ll help them continue their efforts to lower food prices for American families,” Trump said.
Rollins said that $11 billion of the aid will go to row crop farmers and will be disbursed by February 28. The administration is holding back the remaining $1 billion for fruits, vegetables and other crops to finalize the details, Rollins said.
Bessent said the payments will be a “liquidity bridge during a period of adjustment” to support farmers until they see benefits from Trump’s trade deals and other policies.
Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that Trump’s trade policies have hurt farmers.
“The easiest way to give our farmers more certainty would be for the president to end his tariff taxes,” she said.
The administration had been expected to announce a farm bailout totaling as much as $15 billion in October. Rollins previously said the 43-day federal government shutdown delayed the rollout.
LOWER EQUIPMENT COSTS, MORE SOYBEANS
Farmers have faced higher costs for agricultural inputs like seed and fertilizer, which the Trump administration has said it is examining. Soybean farmers expect to see their third consecutive year of losses in 2025, according to the American Soybean Association.
Trump said at the White House that he would further help farmers by eliminating many environmental regulations for farm machinery and that he would expect manufacturers like John Deere to lower equipment prices.
“Farming equipment has gotten too expensive, and a lot of the reason is because they put these environmental excesses on the equipment, which don’t do a damn thing except make it complicated,” Trump said.
John Deere did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also said he has asked China’s President Xi Jinping to increase China’s recently negotiated soybean purchase agreement.
“I think he’s going to do more than he promised to do,” Trump said.
During his first term, Trump gave about $23 billion in aid to farmers hurt by his trade policies. Farmers are set to receive a near-record $40 billion in government payments this year, fueled by ad-hoc disaster and economic aid.
Net farm income could fall by more than $30 billion in 2026 due to a decline in government payments and low crop prices, according to an estimate from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Leah Douglas and Doina Chiacu in Washington and Bhargav Acharya in Toronto; writing by Doina Chiacu and Leah Douglas; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Lisa Shumaker)
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