Trump Unveils $12 Billion Farm Aid Package, with $1 Billion Held Back in Reserve
White House pitches new payments as temporary relief on the way to a “golden age” for U.S. agriculture, funded by tariff revenue and backed by new trade commitments from China and Japan
President Donald Trump used a White House roundtable with farm-state lawmakers and producers on Monday to roll out a $12 billion aid package he cast as a temporary “bridge” for a sector squeezed by past inflation, high input costs and shifting global trade flows. The session, which ran nearly an hour, focused heavily on how the new payments would be structured, how they relate to Trump’s tariff strategy, and what they mean for food prices as the administration seeks to make “affordability” a central theme ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
A $12 Billion Bridge for Farm Country
Trump said the administration would devote “a relatively small portion” of the tariff revenue the U.S. is now collecting to farm country, describing the new initiative as “economic assistance” for producers harmed by years of what he called unfair foreign competition and by the spike in costs under President Joe Biden.
“We’re going to use that money to provide $12 billion in economic assistance to American farmers,” Trump said, calling farmers “the backbone of our country” and promising that the support would help them “lower food prices for American families.”
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins fleshed out the plan, saying USDA will move $11 billion out the door as direct “bridge payments” to producers, with another $1 billion held in reserve to cover specialty crops and sectors still being evaluated.
Key details she laid out:
• Coverage: “All of our row crops” are included in the initial $11 billion. USDA is still working through how to handle certain specialty crops and other commodities.
•Timeline: Farmers should know their payment amounts “by the end of this month,” Rollins said, so they can carry those numbers into lender meetings and planting decisions. The money itself is to be disbursed by February 28, 2026.
• Purpose: The payments are meant as a one-time bridge “from the last administration … to this new golden age for farmers,” Rollins said, arguing that many producers are facing a crisis “they have not seen in their lifetime” after years of high fertilizer, labor and interest costs.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both framed the package as a liquidity backstop after what they portrayed as a steep deterioration in farm finances under Biden. Hassett cited internal estimates that farm interest expenses rose by roughly $8 billion a year under the previous administration, compared with a decline during Trump’s first term, while Bessent called the payments “a liquidity bridge during a period of adjustment.”
Tariffs at the Center of the Strategy
Throughout the session, Trump returned repeatedly to tariffs as both the funding source for the new payments and his preferred tool to reshape global agricultural trade. “This money would not be possible without tariffs,” he told the group, arguing that the U.S. is now “taking in hundreds of billions of dollars” from countries that “took advantage of us for years.” Without tariff authority, he said, “you wouldn’t have tariffs, you’d be sitting here losing your shirt.”
The President also linked the aid directly to an ongoing Supreme Court case that will determine the scope of his future tariff powers, calling it “such a big thing” for agriculture and national security. If the court curtails those powers, he said, “we have other methods, but they’re not as powerful, they’re not as quick.”
Rollins echoed that tariffs were central to the farm agenda, saying the administration is determined that the U.S. will “no longer be held beholden to the regime of other countries’ tariff infrastructure,” but will instead use trade policy to push American farm products into new markets.
China, Japan and New Purchase Commitments
Trump and Bessent both highlighted what they described as fresh commitments from China and Japan to purchase U.S. agricultural products, especially soybeans, as evidence that the tariff strategy is unlocking market access.
Trump said he recently spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that “China committed to over $40 billion of soybean purchases,” adding that he has asked Xi to “even up it” and believes Beijing “is going to do even more than he promised to do.”
Bessent detailed the administration’s internal framework, saying:
• China has committed to purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans this growing season,
• followed by a minimum of 25 million tons annually for the subsequent three years.
Trump described U.S. soybeans as “more nutritious than competitors,” recounting that Xi himself asked whether that assertion was “a Trump statement or is that real.”
On Japan, Trump said Tokyo has agreed to $8 billion in purchases spanning corn, soybeans, ethanol, fertilizer, aviation biofuel and rice. Notably for southern growers, he stressed that Japan had historically been reluctant to buy foreign rice but is now agreeing to do so, calling it “a very important thing to them.”
Bessent said Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department are layering in additional agricultural commitments across “major trade agreements around the world” at Trump’s direction, to diversify markets beyond China.
Rice, Dumping Claims and Tariffs as a “One-Day” Fix
The roundtable also spotlighted mounting tensions in the rice market, where Meryl Kennedy, who runs her family’s Kennedy Rice Mill in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, warned of what she called “anti-competitive” imports.
Kennedy told Trump that while California rice has benefited from improved access to Japan, southern rice producers are “really struggling” amid what she and others in the industry see as foreign dumping into the U.S. market. She cited India, Thailand and China — particularly shipments into Puerto Rico — as the main culprits and said rice imports have reached levels the industry has “never seen.”
“Rice is more than just a commodity, it’s a currency,” Kennedy said, describing the situation as a national-security concern and noting that U.S. rice prices are “the lowest they’ve been in over 40 years.”
Trump responded by asking for a detailed list of the exporting countries and brands, promising that tariffs could “solve your problem in one day.” Trump turned to Bessen and told him to look into the tariff issues regarding rice.
“Tariffs … solve a problem in two minutes,” he said, arguing that similar measures could have prevented the offshoring of U.S. auto and semiconductor production. “We just need the names of the countries — tariffs, again, solves it.”
EU Deforestation Rules and Fertilizer Dependence
Trade frictions with Europe and Canada also surfaced as lawmakers urged the administration to lean on tariffs to counter new policies that they argue disadvantage U.S. farmers.
Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) criticized the European Union’s new deforestation regulation, which requires proof that certain commodities are not linked to deforestation. Scott said the rules were devised with Brazil in mind but are now being applied to American timber and land use, effectively telling U.S. farmers “what they can and can’t do on their own land.”
He asked Trump for a short statement the administration could deliver to European officials, saying the rule is already costing U.S. landowners money. Trump agreed, promising that “we’re always helping them, and they do this kind of stuff,” and pledged to move quickly with tariffs if necessary: “We have to be able to act quickly with tariffs. We can’t just go to a committee … and talk. We got to be able to act quickly.”
Fertilizer a Key Issue
On fertilizer, a reporter asked how the administration planned to lower costs given heavy reliance on imports from Canada and other countries. Trump said that if foreign suppliers continue to dominate the market, “we’ll end up putting very severe tariffs on that, if we have to,” arguing that such a move would spur more domestic production.
Rollins added that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Treasury and USDA are working on a broader plan to “reshore fertilizer” and other farm inputs, and she suggested that some multinational agribusinesses and meatpackers have been enjoying strong profits while farmers struggle. The administration, she said, is probing why “input costs are skyrocketing and all of our farmers are struggling.”
One Big Beautiful Bill, Safety Nets and Tax Changes
Much of the discussion linked the new aid package to provisions already embedded in Trump’s signature tax and farm legislation, frequently referred to at the table as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) or “one big, beautiful bill.”
Participants highlighted several pillars:
•Estate tax relief: Trump reiterated that family farmers and many small businesses are now effectively exempt from federal estate tax, a change he said prevents heirs from having to sell land or take on heavy debt just to pay “death tax.”
• Full expensing: Bessent said the law locked in immediate expensing for farm equipment and “farm structures,” after House members pushed to ensure barns and other on-farm buildings received the same treatment as factories.
• Program upgrades: Lawmakers noted that the bill enhanced the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) commodity programs and created the FARMER Act to make crop insurance more affordable—benefits they said will “kick in next year in a big, big way.”
• Reference prices: Kennedy and others thanked Trump for raising statutory reference prices used to calculate support payments, but warned that in rice those payments are likely to “max out” given how low market prices have fallen.
Sens. John Boozman and Deb Fischer and Rep. Scott all framed today’s bridge aid as a complement to those longer-term changes, designed to carry farmers until the revamped safety net and trade deals fully take hold.
Food Prices, Affordability and the Farm Link
Trump repeatedly tethered the farm package to his broader message on affordability and food prices, blaming Biden for what he called “the worst inflation in the history of our country” and insisting that his policies are now bringing prices down.
“This release will provide much-needed certainty to farmers … and it will help them continue their efforts to lower food prices for American families,” he said.
Rollins and Bessent pointed to several channels by which they expect that to happen:
•Input costs: They argued that pro-growth policies have helped ease fuel and fertilizer prices and that improving credit conditions and lower interest rates are beginning to take pressure off producers.
•Equipment rules: Trump pledged to “take off a lot of the environmental restrictions” imposed on tractors and other farm machinery — rules he said make equipment more expensive and complicated without meaningful benefit. He said he will work with Interior Secretary Burgum and others to force manufacturers to reduce prices once those requirements are rolled back. (Trump: “We’re going to also give the tractor companies John Deere and all of the companies that make the equipment, we’re going to take off a lot of the environmental restrictions that they have on machinery. It’s ridiculous… Farming equipment has gotten too expensive… We’re going to take a lot of that nonsense off of the equipment.”
•Supply and productivity: Maximizing domestic farm production, Trump said, is “a big part of how we will make America affordable again and bring down grocery prices,” arguing that U.S. farmers, given a level playing field, can out-produce competitors.
Rollins also previewed new dietary guidelines and nutrition-program reforms the administration plans to release early next year under its “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) framework. USDA spends about $400 million a day on nutrition programs, she said, and as purchasing shifts toward “more locally produced, American-made, healthier products closer to the schools [and] hospitals,” that government demand could become a powerful market for U.S. farmers, shifting demand away from “ultra-processed foods out of a box.”
When asked how quickly consumers would see the impact of the new aid on grocery bills, Trump said prices are “already” coming down from peaks reached under Biden and that inflation is “essentially gone,” though he acknowledged they have not yet fully normalized.
Farmers Welcome Relief but Stress Trade, Not Aid
Farmers at the table broadly welcomed the bridge payments while emphasizing that they ultimately prefer strong markets over government checks.
Iowa producer Court Harlan called the announcement “Christmas early for farmers,” saying the money will “help us farm another year” and keep family operations going after losses and tragedy. He thanked Trump for standing up to other countries on trade, pushing ethanol policies like year-round E15 and fighting California’s Proposition 12.
At the end of the session, Trump himself underscored that tension. “The farmers don’t want aid,” he said. “They want to have a level playing field, because if they have a level playing field, they’ll do better than anybody else.”
Still, for now, the administration is betting that a combination of tariff-funded bridge payments, stepped-up trade commitments and a lighter regulatory touch on equipment and inputs will give producers enough breathing room to navigate another year — and, in Trump’s words, move into a “new golden age for agriculture” that he argues will make food more affordable and American farm exports more competitive abroad.
