USDA Launches Trade Mitigation Programs

On September 4, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue launched the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) trade mitigation programs aimed at assisting farmers suffering from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. In July, the USDA announced it would authorize up to $12 billion in programs to mitigate retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. agriculture.

The following programs will be used to assist agricultural producers:

• USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) began administering the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to provide payments to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean and wheat producers on September 4, 2018.  The USDA will spend $4.7 billion in this first payment period.  The second payment period, if warranted, will be determined by USDA.
• USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is administering a Food Purchase and Distribution Program to purchase up to $1.2 billion in commodities unfairly targeted by retaliatory tariffs. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will distribute these commodities through nutrition assistance programs.
• Through the Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP), $200 million will be made available to develop foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. The program will help U.S. agricultural exporters identify and access new markets and help mitigate the adverse effects of other countries’ restrictions.

MFP applications are currently available online at www.farmers.gov/MFP. Producers can submit their MFP applications in person at a local FSA office, by email, fax, or by mail. For more information about the three programs listed above, please click here.