Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins indicated on Sunday that the Trump administration is ready to bail out U.S. farmers if necessary as global trade wars continue to weaken agricultural exports.
In an interview, Rollins said of the potential bailout, “The prayer is that that doesn’t need to happen,” but that the administration is “preparing” for it.
Sales of key agricultural commodities, particularly soybeans and pork, to China have fallen sharply amid tariff fallout, with net pork sales down 72% from the previous week, according to a new report.
During lighter tariff battles with China during Trump’s first term, the administration paid out tens of billions of dollars in farm subsidies.