Farm Policy News Summary

Tariff Revenue to Fund Farmer Bailout, Trump Says

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Politico’s Grace Yarrow and Meredith Lee Hill reported that “President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will use tariff revenue to offer cash bailouts for farmers who are struggling with trade uncertainty and other economic headwinds.”

“‘We’re going to take some of that tariff money that we made, we’re going to give it to our farmers, who are, for a little while, going to be hurt until the tariffs kick into their benefit,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office,” Yarrow and Lee Hill reported. “‘So we’re going to make sure that our farmers are in great shape, because we’re taking in a lot of money.'”

“Trump officials expect that Congress will need to authorize the use of tariff revenue for the farm aid package and are hoping lawmakers will include it in their omnibus package due by Nov. 21, according to three people familiar with the talks. That means the rollout of cash will likely start in early 2026,” Yarrow and Lee Hill reported. “The Trump administration has been exploring several ways to fund a farm aid package this fall for weeks as producers of top exports like corn and soy stare down a potential economic crisis that’s been exacerbated by the president’s aggressive tariff rollout.”

“The president, as he conveyed publicly Thursday, likes the messaging of using direct tariff revenue for the farm aid package, rather than tapping other funds, according to two of the people familiar,” Yarrow and Lee Hill reported.

Axios’ Ben Berkowitz and Madison Mills reported that “farmers quickly welcomed Thursday’s news.”

“‘If Trump is gonna use these tariffs as a weapon… I’m not saying it’s right or wrong… to a farmer it’s gonna seem fair if he’s being used as an international policy tool that he get compensated for it,” Rick Foust, a soybean and wheat farmer in north central Kansas, tells Axios,” according to Berkowitz and Mills. “‘Chances are it’s gonna cost (farmers) $10 and they’ll get $5 back.'”

Legal Questions Remain about Using Tariff Revenue

Agri-Pulse’s Oliver Ward reported that “the administration has been considering using its Section 32 authority to support farmers. Section 32 is funded by 30% of tariff receipts, which officials can use to buy surplus commodities in order to boost domestic consumption, encourage farm exports and increase farmers’ purchasing power, according to the Congressional Research Service. It has historically been used to buy commodities not covered by other mandatory support programs.”

“But there are legal restrictions on how officials can use Section 32. Only $350 million can be spent on restoring farmers’ purchasing power through direct payments, Bart Fischer, co-director of the agricultural and food policy center at Texas A&M University, said during the Ag Outlook Forum,” Ward reported. “The bulk of the revenues has to be used to fund child nutrition programs administered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.”

“Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center, said on Thursday that it remains an ‘open question’ as to whether the president would be able use Section 32 to channel tariff revenues to farmers,” Ward reported. “Ultimately, the paths for providing tariff assistance to farmers lead back to Congress, (a former USDA official granted anonymity to speak candidly about the administration’s options told Agri-Pulse) argued.”

Additionally, Bloomberg’s Skylar Woodhouse reported that “using tariff revenue for farm aid could prove risky. The president’s sweeping duties imposed using emergency powers have been ruled illegal by lower courts, and if the Supreme Court affirms those decisions, the US government could have to pay back tens of billions of dollars in refunds.”

China Signals Conditions to Restart Buying of US Soybeans

One of the main reasons farm groups have been pointing to as to why farmers need federal assistance payments is a lack of soybean buying from China. And on Thursday, Reuters reported that “the United States should remove what China described as unreasonable tariffs and create conditions to expand bilateral trade, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said on Thursday when asked if China would purchase U.S. soybeans.”

“China, the world’s biggest buyer of soybeans, has yet to book any U.S. soybean cargoes from its autumn harvest, traders have said, opting for South American supply instead,” Reuters reported. “U.S. farmers stand to miss out on billions of dollars of soybean sales because of unresolved trade tensions that have halted exports to China.”

“‘Regarding the trade of soybeans, the United States should take positive action to cancel the relevant unreasonable tariffs to create conditions for expanding bilateral trade,’ commerce ministry spokesperson He Yadong told a news conference,” Reuters reported.

Ryan Hanrahan is the Farm Policy News editor and social media director for the farmdoc project. He has previously worked in local news, primarily as an agriculture journalist in the American West. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri (B.S. Science & Agricultural Journalism). He can be reached at rrh@illinois.edu.

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