Lawmakers are complaining about “all this welfare going to farmers” during the trade war and they might balk at providing more aid if there is a farm crisis, said House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson in a broadcast interview. “It undermines us,” said Peterson. “If we need to do something, it is going to make it very much more difficult to get political support to respond.”
The administration spent $10 billion to mitigate the impact of the trade war on 2018 agricultural production, including $8.6 billion in cash to farmers and ranchers. Producers could get up to $14.5 billion of the $16 billion pledged in Trump tariff payments on this year’s output.
During an “Open Mic” interview, Peterson said he believed agriculture was “heading for some serious tough sledding” this winter and said Congress might be skeptical. “I’m getting pushback from members (of the House) about all this welfare going to farmers from this administration.”
Agriculture is the only sector of the economy to receive federal aid during the Sino-U.S. trade war.