As Trade War Begins, Feds Eye $30 Billion Bailout Fund For Farmers Facing Losses

[Stonepounder]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/30-billion-dollar-fund-eyed-trade-war-begins_us_5b3865ece4b08c3a8f6b10a9

President Donald Trump’s trade war was officially launched at 12:01 Friday morning as U.S. officials were already strategizing a controversial move to use emergency funds to mitigate the damage to farmers facing punishing retaliatory tariffs.

The Trump administration officially levied tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products at the start of a major trade battle predicted to exact significant costs on consumers and businesses. China was expected to announce its own comparable tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods Friday. Chinese officials had said they would not announce the tariffs until after the U.S. did so. The Chinese tariffs, including a 25 percent charge on soybeans, are expected to hit U.S. farmers particularly hard, since the country currently buys nearly two-thirds of the soybeans produced by U.S. farmers.

But Trump, who has attacked Harley-Davidson for plans to move some production to its overseas plants to avoid retaliatory European tariffs, is looking to save “my farmers” from the trade war he launched. Rural support was critical to his presidential victory. Unhappy farmers could spell trouble for midterm elections.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said last month at a Chicago convention that the Commodity Credit Corporation is a “tool” he’s considering to comply with Trump’s instructions to “craft a strategy to support our farmers against retaliatory tariffs. The program, which was started to help farmers during the Great Depression, allows the Agriculture Department to borrow as much as $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury that could be used to buy crops from farmers that would go unsold in a trade war.

So, let me get this straight. A Trade War which will be "...so easy to win" will require the Agriculture Dept to borrow $30 billion from US taxpayers to support farmers who can't sell the produce because the countries that buy their products can get them cheaper elsewhere after the US imposes tariffs to make our products too expensive. Does this make anyone else's head hurt?

[Solly Mack]

1. SMH

Damn fool idiot

[Cha]

2. trumputin is Fucking Destroying America per

putin's orders.. so even when trump leaves the next President will be in a bigger mess than bush 1 left President Obama.

Which Obama got no credit for righting the ship by those who had no clue what the fuck was going on.

[Afromania]

3. they spent years voting for this day and now it's here.

We TOLD them that we would all get punched. Nah, nah we're rugged individualists they say, we feed the country/world/whatever so we know what is best.

Yea, well they don't really feed us and they certainly aren't feeding the world now that their boy is starting trade wars. Farming is hard and they voted to make it all that much harder.

Reality is real and it's time to pay the price for those votes.

[Sophia4]

6. Meanwhile the cost of a college education has to be repaid.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Fortunately, we can depend on these Principled, Small Government Trump-Voting

Farmers to proudly refuse to accept this TAX-PAYER FUNDED BIG GOVERNMENT WELFARE HANDOUT, caused by a MASSIVE GOVERNMENT BOONDOGGLE, right!?!

I mean, they'd surely never want to appear to be lying, unprincipled, hypocritical, and gullible pond scum by taking this WELFARE HANDOUT, right?

NO DOUBT they'll be demanding a full accounting wrt to just exactly whose pockets all the Billion$ raised from Trump's tariffs ... are actually ending up in, and hence why taxpayer money must be used instead, in the form of WELFARE HANDOUTS to the people that would vote for him next election. Cause we know how egregious that sort of PANDERING is, right?

I mean, for sure, we can at least we can count on that kinda logical consistency and integrity from the Trumpettes, thank goodness!

[AwakeAtLast]

17. I am surrounded by farmers

They would salivate over that money. Then they'll go buy the next generation combine and renovate their house - again, and still have time to bash Food Stamp recipients.

[tirebiter]

5. More Republican Deficits

That is a $34B tax.

[TeamPooka]

7. $30 Billion worth of food will go to rot.

[Thekaspervote]

8. Yup!! G damnit... why should they be saved while the rest of us suffer the consequences

[sakabatou]

9. "I never thought leopards would eat MY face"

sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party.

[Kittycow]

10. Another $30B out of SS that will never be paid back.

[smirkymonkey]

11. This is bullshit!

Are we going to bail out all the other industries that get buried by his trade wars too? Where does it end? What is the point of this? It is certainly not helping the people of this nation. We get higher prices and businesses get screwed.

[mopinko]

16. no worries. only trumpistan will be bailed out.

[Achilleaze]

12. so the republicans are going to throw our tax money at farmers

to compensate for republicans having pissed all over the farm economy.

How republican is that?

Maybe they should stick to throwing our tax money away on fabulously expensive golden gourmet goofy golf trips for Dirty Donny, their ignoble Draft-Dodger-in-Chief.

[NCTraveler]

13. So after the tax scam...

Trumps trade for war will be paid for by working class Americans.

This guys whole life is pulling off one scam after another.

[DeminPennswoods]

14. IA, KS, NEB, OKLA

and the folks in these farming states who voted for Trump need to suffer the consequences of their vote.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. Sure, ain't that the best deal ever made in history?

[IronLionZion]

18. These Trumped up economic policies are going to ruin our country

so after unnecessary tax cuts, screw over farmers with this unnecessary trade war, and then borrow tax dollars we don't have to buy their votes.

Oh and the next step is to stick a future Democratic congress and president with the bill. Upon which time the GOP will become deeply concerned about the debt and demand austerity measures.