On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced $12 billion in aid to farmers that are being harmed by retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. actions as part of its Section 232 and 301 investigations. USDA aid will be dispersed through three programs:
- The Market Facilitation Program
- The Food Purchase and Distribution Program
- The Trade Promotion Program.
Through the Market Facilitation Program, producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, and hogs will receive direct payments in order to manage disrupted markets, deal with surplus commodities, and develop new markets domestically and internationally.
Purchases of commodities such as fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk will be made under the Food Purchase and Distribution Program and will be distributed to food banks and other nutrition programs across the United States.
The Trade Promotion Program is administered by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and is tasked with the developing of new export markets abroad for U.S. farm products.
The aid is expected to begin to be provided in early September.