By Hugh CameronShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberAmerica’s farmers could soon receive a long-awaited aid package to help them manage the storm of rising input costs and falling commodity prices.
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said there would be an announcement “probably in the next week or two” on farmer aid, while providing no specifics on what this might look like.
Newsweek contacted the Department of Agriculture (USDA) via email outside of regular hours for comment.
Why It Matters
Farmers have been under particular strain in 2025, with tariffs raising costs and retaliatory actions closing off some of their key export markets. U.S. soybean croppers lost out on billions in sales earlier this year when China abruptly halted its American orders, and the nation’s cattle ranchers have warned that plans to import foreign beef to bring down domestic prices will weaken their profits at home.
What To Know
The administration has come under intense pressure to back America’s farmers and agricultural communities, the majority of whom supported President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
In September, the president vowed to use a portion of the revenues from tariffs to pay farmers whom he said were “for a little while, going to be hurt until the tariffs kick in to their benefit.” Rollins told British newspaper the Financial Times that month that an aid package to help farmers offset rising costs could be announced "soon," and that financing this with tariffs was “absolutely a potential.”
In late October, Politico, citing anonymous sources familiar with the plans, reported that the administration was looking at an initial payment of up to $12 billion for farmers who had suffered as a result of its tariff policies, comparable to the financial relief granted in 2019 to those impacted by his first-term trade war with China.
This followed a meeting between Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping, at which another temporary trade truce was struck. Among other agreements reached at the meeting in South Korea, the White House said China had agreed to end its de-facto embargo on U.S. soybeans and import 12 million metric tons through January.
...Rollins provided few specifics on what kind of aid package farmers could expect in the coming weeks, beyond stating that it aims to “mitigate” the effects of ongoing trade negotiations.
In September, Rollins said she was working with members of Congress to establish how much direct assistance might be required, Reuters reported. Republican lawmakers later told the outlet that the amount would likely exceed the total $23 billion in payments issued during Trump’s first term.
What People Are Saying
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told CNBC on Tuesday: “The president always said he would take care of the farmers. They have been with him since he came down the escalator just a few blocks from here in 2015, and began this next chapter. So yes, we are looking at the aid right now. We have always said it is to solve for—to mitigate—anything under these new trade negotiations. Every day that changes, and that's what we're working on. So we'll have an announcement probably in the next week or two on what that's going to look like.”
Republican Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas told Reuters in September: “I think farmers can probably wait [for aid] till October. But I think what they need, and what the bankers need, as much as anything, is a strong signal that the money will be there. And if it's not, we're going to see a lot of financial calamity in rural America.”
What Happens Next
China has begun importing U.S. soybeans after a months-long pause, though USDA data show that it remains behind on what the administration said it had committed to purchase. Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, recently told WNKY he had “cautious optimism” about China fulfilling its import pledge.
"We've already started shipping soybeans their way, almost a million and a half metric tons," Rollins said on Tuesday. "We have every indication they will continue to buy soybeans."
Following a call with Xi, Trump on Tuesday said China was open to “buying our farm products,” without providing many details.
“I asked him, ‘I'd like you to buy it a little faster. I'd like you to buy more.’ And he's more or less agreed to do that,” Trump told reporters. “I think we will be pleasantly surprised by the actions of President Xi.”
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