KDSN RADIO News
US Ag Secretary planning more federal aid for farmers if there’s a trade war
U-S Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who’s visiting Iowa today, said the Trump Administration is planning another round of market disruption payments if the tariffs the president announces on Tuesday lead to a downturn in ag exports.
“As soon as we fully understand the consequences, positive and otherwise, of these negotiations/renegotiations, we’ll have more announcements on that,” she said this afternoon during a news conference on a farm near Waukee.
Rollins, though, indicated there’s less money available for the payments than there was in the first Trump Administration when U.S. ag exports to China fell due to a trade dispute.
“(Trump) was elected with the idea of tariffs being one of the top tools in his tool kit to realign the American economy, to put Americans first,” Rollins said, “but I also know that that president was proud last time that then USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, through some mechanisms through the USDA, was able to ensure that many of our farmers were made whole through those negotiations.”
The trade-related payments to U.S. farmers during the first Trump Administration were spread over three years and ultimately surpassed $23 billion. Rollins told reporters the president’s next set of tariff policies are still “to be determined,” but she’s begun planning for payments to farmers should the tariffs impact ag commodities.
“Literally as we speak, as we’ve been driving from location to location here in Iowa, I’ve been on the phone non-stop managing a lot of that,” Rollins said, “or working to ensure that our farmers and our ranchers are represented in those negotiations.”
Rollins said Trump has believed for decades that America and its products and goods “get a raw deal on the world stage,” and he intends to change that. “He believes very sincerely that for the long term that this is the right move for the country, that ultimately the economy will thrive and all Americans will be better off,” Rollins said, “…but we have some, you know, maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a few months while we’re working all of that out.”
Rollins, who worked in the White House during the first Trump Administration, was confirmed as U.S. Agriculture Secretary on February 13.
Rollins visited an ethanol plant in Atlantic this morning and toured a hog facility near Waukee this afternoon before making her way to Newton for a meeting at a hybrid seed company. She’ll speak tonight at the annual Iowa Ag Leaders banquet.
