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| Trump Administration to Announce Farm Aid to Ease Pain of Trade War | Trump Administration to Announce Farm Aid to Ease Pain of Trade War |
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| WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to announce a substantial aid package for farmers as early as Thursday, one of several recent moves aimed at mollifying an important political constituency hurt by President Trump’s trade war. | WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to announce a substantial aid package for farmers as early as Thursday, one of several recent moves aimed at mollifying an important political constituency hurt by President Trump’s trade war. |
| Mr. Trump has been fighting several trade wars at once, wielding tariffs against metals from Europe, Japan, Canada and Mexico as well as goods from China. In response, trading partners have hit back at American farmers, imposing punishing tariffs on everything from peanut butter to soybeans to orange juice. | Mr. Trump has been fighting several trade wars at once, wielding tariffs against metals from Europe, Japan, Canada and Mexico as well as goods from China. In response, trading partners have hit back at American farmers, imposing punishing tariffs on everything from peanut butter to soybeans to orange juice. |
| With no end in sight to several of Mr. Trump’s trade fights, particularly China, administration officials have grown concerned that the president could lose the support of farmers ahead of the 2020 election. Those worries helped spur Mr. Trump last week to suddenly drop steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which agreed in turn to withdraw stiff levies on American farm goods. | With no end in sight to several of Mr. Trump’s trade fights, particularly China, administration officials have grown concerned that the president could lose the support of farmers ahead of the 2020 election. Those worries helped spur Mr. Trump last week to suddenly drop steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which agreed in turn to withdraw stiff levies on American farm goods. |
| The administration will attempt to further cushion the blow with a second bailout package aimed at helping farmers who have lost sales and market share as a result of the trade war. On Thursday, the White House was preparing to welcome farmers for a meeting where it expected to announce a generous bailout, which could be larger than the initial $12 billion financial support program it rolled out last year. | |
| The measures are aimed at giving Mr. Trump the ability to continue his trade fight with China, which shows no signs of easing and could continue for months, if not years. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have worsened in recent weeks as the Trump administration increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods, prepared to tax another $300 billion and placed Huawei, the Chinese telecom equipment giant, on a United States blacklist. | The measures are aimed at giving Mr. Trump the ability to continue his trade fight with China, which shows no signs of easing and could continue for months, if not years. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have worsened in recent weeks as the Trump administration increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods, prepared to tax another $300 billion and placed Huawei, the Chinese telecom equipment giant, on a United States blacklist. |
| A spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that details on a new farming support program would be forthcoming shortly, but cautioned farmers to avoid changing their planting decisions until the details had been clarified. | A spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that details on a new farming support program would be forthcoming shortly, but cautioned farmers to avoid changing their planting decisions until the details had been clarified. |
| After two years of steadily escalating its trade fights on front after front, the Trump administration appears to be recognizing that the window for cutting deals with allies before the 2020 election is closing. According to administration officials and lawmakers, the president and his top advisers are increasingly feeling that, on the trade front, too many issues remained unresolved and, that trade wars — like military wars — are best waged one front at a time. | After two years of steadily escalating its trade fights on front after front, the Trump administration appears to be recognizing that the window for cutting deals with allies before the 2020 election is closing. According to administration officials and lawmakers, the president and his top advisers are increasingly feeling that, on the trade front, too many issues remained unresolved and, that trade wars — like military wars — are best waged one front at a time. |
| That thinking pushed the president and his advisers to reverse their position last week on the tariffs they had levied on Canadian and Mexican metal. It was one of the few times the president has chosen to lift a tariff, instead of imposing new ones. | That thinking pushed the president and his advisers to reverse their position last week on the tariffs they had levied on Canadian and Mexican metal. It was one of the few times the president has chosen to lift a tariff, instead of imposing new ones. |
| Robert Lighthizer, the president’s top trade adviser, had for months been trying to persuade Canada and Mexico to agree to permanent caps on the amount of metal they send to the United States. But when progress toward a sweeping trade deal with China unexpectedly stalled earlier this month, Mr. Lighthizer decided it was time to try to bring to a close the battle he had been waging in North America, the better to focus on the long war with China, according to people familiar with the deliberations. | Robert Lighthizer, the president’s top trade adviser, had for months been trying to persuade Canada and Mexico to agree to permanent caps on the amount of metal they send to the United States. But when progress toward a sweeping trade deal with China unexpectedly stalled earlier this month, Mr. Lighthizer decided it was time to try to bring to a close the battle he had been waging in North America, the better to focus on the long war with China, according to people familiar with the deliberations. |
| He reached out to Canadian and Mexican officials, offering a deal in which the United States would lift its tariffs if the countries would agree to prevent future surges of metal into the United States market, these people said. If those surges happened, the United States could reimpose tariffs of 10 percent on aluminum and 25 percent on steel on the specific products affected. And Canada and Mexico would agree that, if they retaliated, it would only be on American metal, and not on American farmers. | He reached out to Canadian and Mexican officials, offering a deal in which the United States would lift its tariffs if the countries would agree to prevent future surges of metal into the United States market, these people said. If those surges happened, the United States could reimpose tariffs of 10 percent on aluminum and 25 percent on steel on the specific products affected. And Canada and Mexico would agree that, if they retaliated, it would only be on American metal, and not on American farmers. |
| On Monday, Canada and Mexico officially lifted the tariffs they had imposed on American pork, milk, cheese, wine and other products, a major relief to American farmers who count the countries as two of their top three export markets, in addition to China. | On Monday, Canada and Mexico officially lifted the tariffs they had imposed on American pork, milk, cheese, wine and other products, a major relief to American farmers who count the countries as two of their top three export markets, in addition to China. |
| The collateral damage to farmers from the trade clash with China now looms as a potential obstacle to the president’s re-election. China’s tariffs against products like soybeans and beef, and a recent move to cancel a major pork order, have hit swing states, including Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin, especially hard. | The collateral damage to farmers from the trade clash with China now looms as a potential obstacle to the president’s re-election. China’s tariffs against products like soybeans and beef, and a recent move to cancel a major pork order, have hit swing states, including Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin, especially hard. |
| A survey of 400 American farmers by Purdue University and the CME Group, a global markets company, showed that sentiment plunged in April, stemming from concerns about worsening tensions with China. Only 28 percent of farmers surveyed said they believed a soybean dispute with China would be resolved by July 1, down from 45 percent in March, while 74 percent of those surveyed said now was a “bad time” to make big farm investments. | |
| “Farmers are becoming increasingly anxious over their future financial performance,” said James Mintert, the survey’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. | “Farmers are becoming increasingly anxious over their future financial performance,” said James Mintert, the survey’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. |
| The administration handed out $12 billion in emergency relief for farmers last year, funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation, a program that helps shore up American farmers by buying their crops. The new round of aid could operate similarly, though details have not been released. But many farmers have complained that the past payments are too small to offset the cost of lost markets overseas, while others have objected to the idea of receiving government handouts. | |
| The president is also increasingly focused on rural communities as he looks ahead to a fight with the Democratic nominee for the 2020 election. | The president is also increasingly focused on rural communities as he looks ahead to a fight with the Democratic nominee for the 2020 election. |
| Mr. Trump’s political advisers have pointed to the rapid rise of Joseph R. Biden Jr. to the top of Democrats’ 2020 field, powered, in part, by the former vice president’s popularity with blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as a reason to mitigate the pain on farms and factories of tariffs in the Midwest, current and former administration officials said. | Mr. Trump’s political advisers have pointed to the rapid rise of Joseph R. Biden Jr. to the top of Democrats’ 2020 field, powered, in part, by the former vice president’s popularity with blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as a reason to mitigate the pain on farms and factories of tariffs in the Midwest, current and former administration officials said. |
| The lifting of the steel and aluminum tariffs last Friday could also help the administration’s broader trade goals by opening a legislative path for Mr. Trump’s revised North American trade agreement. The United States signed that deal with Canada and Mexico late last year, but it still needs to be ratified by legislatures in all three countries. | The lifting of the steel and aluminum tariffs last Friday could also help the administration’s broader trade goals by opening a legislative path for Mr. Trump’s revised North American trade agreement. The United States signed that deal with Canada and Mexico late last year, but it still needs to be ratified by legislatures in all three countries. |
| It had become increasingly clear that the metal tariffs, which the administration once viewed as leverage to getting a revised Nafta, had become an obstacle to its resolution. Republican lawmakers, along with policymakers in Canada and Mexico, have insisted the tariffs come off before the trade pact was passed into law. | It had become increasingly clear that the metal tariffs, which the administration once viewed as leverage to getting a revised Nafta, had become an obstacle to its resolution. Republican lawmakers, along with policymakers in Canada and Mexico, have insisted the tariffs come off before the trade pact was passed into law. |
| Also championing their removal was Vice President Mike Pence, who had also been pushing the president to lift the metal tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Mr. Pence, who advocated free trade policies while serving as governor of Indiana, has been touring the United States to promote the passage of the Trump administration’s revised North American free trade pact and brought back stories to the White House about manufacturers and farmers who were hurt by tariffs. | Also championing their removal was Vice President Mike Pence, who had also been pushing the president to lift the metal tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Mr. Pence, who advocated free trade policies while serving as governor of Indiana, has been touring the United States to promote the passage of the Trump administration’s revised North American free trade pact and brought back stories to the White House about manufacturers and farmers who were hurt by tariffs. |
| The changes, while helpful, are likely to fall short of propelling the new United States Mexico Canada Agreement through the Democrat-controlled House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have raised concerns about the deal, arguing that its labor and environmental provisions do not go far enough, and calling for the administration to roll back protections for pharmaceutical companies that Democrats say will complicate their effort to make health care more affordable. | The changes, while helpful, are likely to fall short of propelling the new United States Mexico Canada Agreement through the Democrat-controlled House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have raised concerns about the deal, arguing that its labor and environmental provisions do not go far enough, and calling for the administration to roll back protections for pharmaceutical companies that Democrats say will complicate their effort to make health care more affordable. |
| The administration had been hoping for a Congressional vote on their trade bill this summer. But Ms. Pelosi and other Democrats are in no particular rush to give the president a major domestic policy victory in 2020. She has told associates that she is looking for a way to get to yes, while at the same time depriving Mr. Trump of a domestic policy victory she believes he lucked into. | The administration had been hoping for a Congressional vote on their trade bill this summer. But Ms. Pelosi and other Democrats are in no particular rush to give the president a major domestic policy victory in 2020. She has told associates that she is looking for a way to get to yes, while at the same time depriving Mr. Trump of a domestic policy victory she believes he lucked into. |
| Mr. Lighthizer has a good relationship with the speaker, and other Democrats, but recently he had begun to vent his frustrations about the pace of the talks, according to two senior administration officials involved on the issue. | Mr. Lighthizer has a good relationship with the speaker, and other Democrats, but recently he had begun to vent his frustrations about the pace of the talks, according to two senior administration officials involved on the issue. |
| That could pose problems for farmers who are depending on the revised pact, which includes more access to Canada’s dairy market. | That could pose problems for farmers who are depending on the revised pact, which includes more access to Canada’s dairy market. |
| Tom Vilsack, a former agriculture secretary who now represents the dairy industry, said on Friday that the removal of the tariffs was an important step but that passage of the revised North American trade agreement and new trade deals with China and Japan remain most crucial to reviving the dairy sector. | Tom Vilsack, a former agriculture secretary who now represents the dairy industry, said on Friday that the removal of the tariffs was an important step but that passage of the revised North American trade agreement and new trade deals with China and Japan remain most crucial to reviving the dairy sector. |
| “With the difficulties experienced with the China talks, it was fair to assume that the administration needed to have some positive news coming out of the trade side of the shop,” Mr. Vilsack said. | “With the difficulties experienced with the China talks, it was fair to assume that the administration needed to have some positive news coming out of the trade side of the shop,” Mr. Vilsack said. |
| Both the aid package for farmers and the lifting of tariffs on Canada and Mexico are also likely to cultivate some good will for the administration with Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa senator and farmer who also heads the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which will play a role in the deal’s passage. | Both the aid package for farmers and the lifting of tariffs on Canada and Mexico are also likely to cultivate some good will for the administration with Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa senator and farmer who also heads the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which will play a role in the deal’s passage. |
| Mr. Grassley has been outspoken in his opposition to the metal tariffs and his defense of farmers. On April 28, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by the senator arguing that the tariffs would make it virtually impossible to pass the deal, and entitled “Trump’s Tariffs End or His Trade Deal Dies.” | Mr. Grassley has been outspoken in his opposition to the metal tariffs and his defense of farmers. On April 28, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by the senator arguing that the tariffs would make it virtually impossible to pass the deal, and entitled “Trump’s Tariffs End or His Trade Deal Dies.” |
| “If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead,” Mr. Grassley wrote. “There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place.” | “If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead,” Mr. Grassley wrote. “There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place.” |
| Mr. Grassley — whom Mr. Trump views as the archetypal representative of the Midwest’s farming industry — had given Mr. Lighthizer and Mr. Pence advance notice that he planned to publish the piece. And the article, appearing in one of the few print spaces — The Wall Street Journal editorial page — to which Mr. Trump pays close attention, had an impact. | Mr. Grassley — whom Mr. Trump views as the archetypal representative of the Midwest’s farming industry — had given Mr. Lighthizer and Mr. Pence advance notice that he planned to publish the piece. And the article, appearing in one of the few print spaces — The Wall Street Journal editorial page — to which Mr. Trump pays close attention, had an impact. |
| Mr. Lighthizer quietly suggested to Mr. Grassley that the tariffs would be dropped. Last Friday, Mr. Trump called Mr. Grassley two hours before announcing the move to tell him that he was lifting the tariffs for the country’s workers and farmers, according to a person familiar with the interaction. | Mr. Lighthizer quietly suggested to Mr. Grassley that the tariffs would be dropped. Last Friday, Mr. Trump called Mr. Grassley two hours before announcing the move to tell him that he was lifting the tariffs for the country’s workers and farmers, according to a person familiar with the interaction. |