Trade War Farm Bailout

Trade War Farm Bailout (The Big Picture)

According to Reuters, “the U.S. government will pay American farmers hurt by the trade war with China between $15 and $150 per acre as part of a $16 billion aid package.” Aid is going gone to mostly wealthy corporate farms.

In other words, the cost of the trade war is being borne first by farmers, who lose a major market for their crops, second by taxpayers, who are bailing out the farmers.

[ed. See also: Trump’s $28 Billion Bet That Rural America Will Stick With Him (Bloomberg): "At $28 billion so far, the farm rescue is more than twice as expensive as the 2009 bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, which cost taxpayers $12 billion. And farmers expect the money to keep flowing: In an August survey by Purdue University and the CME Group, 58% said they anticipate another round of trade aid next year."