RANDOLPH, Minn. (AP) — When Donald Trump promised new tariffs while running for president, Gene Stehly worried that trade disputes would jeopardize his international sales of corn, soybeans and wheat.
When Donald Trump promised new tariffs while running for president, Gene Stehly worried that trade disputes would jeopardize his international sales of corn, soybeans and wheat.
A little more than a year later, Stehly said his fears have become a reality, and Trump’s latest promise of federal assistance is insufficient to cover American farmers‘ losses.
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“Maybe this will all come out to be better at the end, but I can tell you right now, it certainly isn’t the case at the moment“, Stehly said.
Trump announced Monday that his Republican administration would distribute $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers, who have suffered from persistently low commodity prices, rising costs and declining sales after China cut off all agricultural purchases from America during the trade war.
While rural areas remain conservative bastions, farmers‘ patience with Washington is wearing thin. Several of them described the government bailout, an echo of similar policies during Trump’s first term, as a welcome stopgap but one that will not solve the agricultural industry’s problems.
„It’s a bridge. It’s not the ultimate solution we’re looking for“, said Charlie Radman, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans on the land his family has owned near Randolph, Minnesota, since 1899. “What we really want to have is a little more certainty and not have to rely on these ad hoc payments.”
But farmers support for Trump remains steadfast.
Kansas sorghum farmer Garrett Love, who was at the White House when the aid was announced, said farmers know that securing fair trade deals is a “hard process“, and farmers “appreciate lowering tax burdens, lowering regulations, increasing freedom, and Trump has definitely done that.
