The aid package announced to offset harm by the Trump administration’s trade policy for agriculture could be ready to go by October, according to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. While in Argentina as part of the G20 meeting of agriculture ministers, Perdue told Reuters the aid package could have payments reaching farmers by late September. The plan would include between $7 billion and $8 billion in direct cash relief as the Department of Agriculture expects U.S. farmers to take an $11 billion hit due to retaliatory tariffs after Washington placed duties on Chinese goods. However, Perdue cautioned: “Obviously this is not going to make farmers whole.” Checks will go out to farmers “as soon as they prove their yields,” according to Perdue, who says the yields will be based on actual production, not historical averages. The program is a response to trade tariffs implemented on U.S. agriculture goods for the 2018 crop year only, as Perdue says “we do not expect to do this over a period of time.”
During congressional testimony on Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers that it’s entirely possible that the three North American Free Trade Agreement members will reach a deal in August. Lighthizer says that would meet the Mexican objective of having current President Enrique Pena Nieto sign the deal before he leaves office in December. Bloomberg says U.S. trade law requires a three-month waiting period before the parties can sign off on the deal. Should the three countries not reach a deal until September or later, the incoming President of Mexico would have to sign off on it after he takes office. Lighthizer says Canada may be the sticking point in reaching a new NAFTA agreement. “My hope is that we’ll have a quick resolution with Mexico, and, as a result of that, Canada may come in more willing to compromise,” Lighthizer said in testimony. The current Mexican Economy Minister says it is possible they will reach a deal with the U.S. in August. The chief NAFTA negotiator for the incoming government says he’s more “cautiously optimistic” about the direction of the talks.
The European Union says that the proposed trade talks with the United States wouldn’t include farming. The website Business Times Dot Com says this directly contradicts what President Donald Trump says. An EU Commission spokeswoman says they’ve been very clear on that fact. The spokeswoman adds that agriculture is not part of it, only the things that were specifically mentioned in the statement that came out Thursday. “The joint statement shows no mention of agriculture, as such you’ll see a mention of farmers and a mention of soybeans, which are part of the discussion,” says Mina Andreeva. “That is part of the discussion and we will follow up on that.” The EU clarification comes one day after the president called the agreement a “major victory for U.S. farmers,” who’ve seen plummeting exports due to Washington’s trade policies. Trump told a rally in Iowa that “We’ve just opened up Europe for you farmers.” The EU may be feeling pressure to emphasize that there was no farming concession made to Trump because of opposition in Europe to more genetically modified imports from America.
President Trump says his administration is “very close” to approving the year-round sale of the E15 blend of ethanol very soon. During a trip to Iowa on Thursday, Trump told the audience, “I’m very close to pulling off something that you’ve been looking forward to for many years, and that’s the 12-month E15 waiver. We’re getting very close to doing that.” The Quad City Times says Trump called the process “very complex.” The President noted that he stuck with ethanol, saying most of the other candidates “weren’t there, to put it mildly.” Pro-ethanol group Growth Energy says, “We are pleased to hear President Trump say he’s ‘very close’ to making E15 available year-round, fulfilling his promise to America’s farmers.” Growth Energy says increased access to U.S. markets will provide America’s farmers with some financial confidence and they hope the President will direct the Environmental Protection Agency to act quickly to provide year-round RVP relief.
The President’s plan to aid farmers in the midst of the trade war is not sitting well with several groups, including a number of Republicans in Congress. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says, “This is becoming more and more like a Soviet-style economy here with commissars in the administration figuring out where to sprinkle around benefits.” According to the Hagstrom Report, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor says the administration missed an opportunity to provide long-term relief to farmers by increasing domestic demand for ethanol through RVP relief. “Allowing year-round sales of higher blends like E15 is one way to address sales lost because of tariffs and give a little more certainty for farmers,” says Skor. The Heritage Foundation’s Trade Economist Tori Whiting says the plan is a misguided attempt to mitigate the harm caused by tariffs at taxpayer expense. “Bad policy doesn’t justify more bad policy,” Whiting says. “The administration’s plan to throw more money at a problem it created will not increase the freedom to trade in America.” North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp says the lost markets overseas will be very difficult to bring back because they took years to create.