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Bloomberg Businessweek September 23, 2019Edited by
Cristina Lindblad *FORECAST AS OF AUG. 30, 2019. †THROUGH JULY. DATA: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY 731; PHOTOS: ALAMY (2); GETTY IMAGES (2)the president’s key constituencies. This time the
crowd was subdued. “The aid package that has
come in is a relief, and it softens the landing, but
it’s not a solution, it’s a Band-Aid,” says Stan Born,
a farmer who attended the event. When asked if
the payments make him whole, Born, who grows
500 acres of soybeans near Decatur, responds, “Of
course not.” He’d rather have free trade, he says.
China hawks in Trump’s administration want
Beijing to quit subsidizing strategic industries, yet
that hasn’t deterred the White House from doling
out billions in aid to American farmers, who have
become more dependent on government money
than they’ve been in years. At $28 billion so far,
the farm rescue is more than twice as expensive as
the 2009 bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers,
which cost taxpayers $12 billion. And farmers expect
the money to keep flowing: In an August survey by
Purdue University and the CME Group, 58% said
they anticipate another round of trade aid next year.
Farmers became collateral damage in Trump’s
tit-for-tat tariff war with China, which is being
waged primarily for the benefit of such sectors as
manufacturing and tech. Agriculture is actually one
of the rare U.S. industries that consistently runs aU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was
fielding questions at a farm show in Decatur, Ill.,
in late August when his boss rang his cellphone.
Perdue put the call on speaker and placed it next
to the microphone so the crowd could hear Donald
Trump speak. During the almost seven-minute call
the president defended his handling of the trade
conflict with China, which has cut off American
farmers from one of their most important export
markets. Yet he was quick to remind them that he’s
tried to salve their pain. “I sometimes see where
these horrible dishonest reporters will say that ‘oh
jeez, the farmers are upset.’ Well, they can’t be too
upset, because I gave them $12 billion and I gave
them $16 billion this year,” said Trump, who then
added, “I hope you like me even better than you
did in ’16.”
A couple of years ago, a pep talk from Trump
might have drawn raucous applause from one of○ Trump’s trade wars have left
farmers even more dependent
on government aidWill $28 Billion Keep
Rural Voters Loyal?