The Trump administration announced $12-billion dollars in a one-time payment to American farmers impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump's wide ranging tariff war.
The announcement was made during a one-hour roundtable Monday afternoon at the White House.
The majority, $11-billion, will come out first for soybean, corn, sorghum and rice producers. The remaining $1 billion is being held back to help growers of other crops.
Asked how his administration arrived at the $12 billion figure, President Trump said it was based on the extent farmers were "hurt" by the tariffs.
Trump says the $12-billion will come from the large amount of money collected by the U.S. government in tariffs imposed on a wide range of products from many countries.
Trump was also asked if this would be the last aid payment for American farmers and the president was non-committal. China has been buying some U.S. soybeans, but the amount to date is well below the anticipated amount.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the money will be distributed to eligible farmers by February 28, 2026. Rollins added farmers will know the exact amount they will be able to apply for "in the next couple of weeks."
In a climate of lower commodity prices, U.S. farmers are also dealing with higher input costs. A reporter asked about fertilizer in particular. Trump admitted a lot of fertilizer comes from Canada but wants to change that by implementing tariffs to encourage domestic production.
"So we'll end up putting very severe tariffs on that if we have to because that's the way you want to bolster here and we can do it here." he said.
Back in February, the President initially placed a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian products crossing the border before reducing it to 10 per cent for fertilizer. Canada responded with counter-tariffs. It resulted in a significant increase in fertilizer prices for both Canadian and American farmers.
Numbers from Fertilizer Canada show the U.S. accounts for over half of Canada's annual fertilizer exports. The U.S. only produces about 420,000 metric tonnes of potash per year with New Mexico and Utah the biggest contributors. The U.S. has potash reserves of approximately 220 million metric tonnes.
Trump also promised to remove environmental regulations on large machinery, such as tractors, in an attempt to lower prices for those products.
"It doesn't do anything except it makes the equipment much more expensive and much more complicated to work, and it's not as good as the old days."
Trump is expecting those savings to be passed on to U.S. farmers.
Earlier this year, John Deere estimated U.S. tariffs would cost the company about $600 million this year.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
