The government will send billions of dollars in trade war payments to farmers over the next two months or so, said President Trump in Iowa on Tuesday, with the promise of booming business with China, Japan and Mexico in the near future. “Within a year and a half, I would say, you’ll be in the best position that you’ve been in in 15 years as farmers, and you deserve it.”
During a 45-minute speech at an ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, Trump urged rural Americans to press Congress for passage of the successor to NAFTA, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. “Put it up for a vote. Let’s get it signed. It’s all ready,” said the president.
Trump signed an executive order to speed up federal approval of gene-edited crops and livestock before leaving the Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy plant. The order directs the USDA, EPA and FDA, who jointly oversee biotechnology, “to exempt low-risk products of agriculture biotechnology from undue regulation.”
Less than three weeks ago, Trump announced a $16 billion aid package to cushion the impact of trade war on the agricultural sector this year. The bulk of the money, up to $14.5 billion, would be paid directly to producers of of row crops, dairy, pork, nuts, and a handful of fruits. At the time, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said payments would be made in three tranches, beginning in late July or August, followed by disbursements in November and next January.
“Sonny Perdue, you’re going to be distributing that to all of the farmers over probably the next two months, right?” Trump asked from the podium. Perdue was among federal and state officials who accompanied Trump to Iowa. The president said the payments were compensation for his decision to confront “China’s chronic trade abuses” and its tit-for-tat tariffs on U.S. exports.
“We’ve made up for that retaliation with the $16 billion and I must tell you, made up for it and more so, and more so.”
Trump said his trade policies would pay off for America and especially for agriculture. “We’re still working on China. Japan is going to be a big buyer, they told me the other day…Mexico is going to be buying a lot of product, a lot of product.”
To watch a C-SPAN video of Trump’s speech, click here.