US Farming Association Calls For “Safety Net” Bill

April 8, 2025 Business, Trump Administration

The American Farm Bureau writes:

Farmers and ranchers, like all Americans, will be paying more for many of the products they purchase, from seed for vegetable growers to tractors and other equipment made of steel.

Retaliatory tariffs imposed by our trading partners make American products more expensive than products from countries not facing such tariffs, thereby lowering demand for the more than 20% of U.S. agricultural production that is exported.

Longer-term, farmers may also see demand reduction as our economy struggles to cope with these major changes. The volatility of the tariff policy decisions, with new tariffs frequently being announced, paused and placed will take a toll on the American agricultural industry, as on the rest of the economy.

Farmers and ranchers suffer from instability, as their soundest business decisions can be turned upside down. If these tariffs lead rapidly to new agreements with new market access, they may help our farmers. In the meantime, without direct support from USDA or a farm bill with an updated safety net, farmers will almost certainly bear the brunt of these tariffs, as they always seem to do.

Read the full article. Note the final line above. You will recall that in 2018, Trump’s tariffs necessitated at $23 billion bailout for US farmers. Last month, the New York Times reported that the USDA was already considering a similar bailout ahead of Trump’s latest tariffs.



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