Brooke Rollins, Agriculture secretary: Administration ‘confident’ about aid for farmers amid tariffs

The Trump administration is prepared to provide financial assistance to farmers and ranchers negatively impacted by the president’s tariffs and trade war with China, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Sunday.

Ms. Rollins said the pain from the tariffs will “hopefully” be a “short period of uncertainty” for farmers while making it clear a safety net will be there for those squeezed financially.

“We feel confident, if necessary, that there will be money to help these farmers,” Ms. Rollins said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Agricultural workers have raised concerns that the tariffs will make exporting their products — particularly soybeans — harder, hurting their bottom line.

Things escalated last week after China imposed a 125% tariff on US imports after the Trump administration raised its tariffs on the Asian giant to 145%.

President Trump butted heads with China over trade during his first term. To help offset the losses from that trade war, Mr. Trump doled out $23 billion in subsidies from the Department of Agriculture to farmers and ranchers.

Ms. Rollins said she discussed possible economic aid to farmers last week with Sens. John Boozman, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and John Hoeven, who heads the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

She said the Biden administration burned through a lot of the money in the fund that Mr. Trump relied on during her first term to send aid to farmers.

Ms. Rollins said Mr. Trump is trying to “completely realign the world economy” that has been unfair to American farmers.

She said Japan levies a 700% tariff on American rice, and Brazil levies a 20% tariff on ethanol. She also said the European Union has relied on bogus studies to bar hormone-treated U.S. beef imports.

Ms. Rollins said said she expects a “short-term negotiation period” with foreign nations on trade and then we will move into the economy opening up.”