The Trump administration on Tuesday said it will use a Great Depression-era program to pay up to $12 billion to help U.S. farmers weather a growing trade war with China, the European Union and others that the president began.
It is a clear signal the U.S. President Donald Trump is determined to stick with tariffs as his weapon of choice in the conflict.
The move meant to cushion the blow for a politically important constituency was met with broad criticism by many farmers and farm-belt lawmakers, including Republicans. Rural and agricultural states supported Trump by wide margins in the 2016 election.
Trump’s trade policies have become central in several rural-state U.S. Senate races ahead of congressional elections in November.
The president, speaking at an event in Kansas City on Tuesday, reaffirmed his support for tariffs and pledged that “farmers will be the biggest beneficiary.”
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