President Donald Trump has rolled out a $12bn support plan aimed at assisting farmers facing low crop prices and disruption linked to recent trade conflicts.
According to the administration, roughly $11bn will be disbursed as one-time payments to producers of major row crops under the Farmer Bridge Assistance programme. Another $1bn is reserved for farmers growing products not covered under the scheme.
Although many in the agriculture sector remain politically aligned with Trump, farmers have faced significant market uncertainty during his second term, particularly due to trade tensions with China.
Trump also warned on Monday that Mexico could face an additional 5% tariff in a dispute over water access for farms in the United States.
Officials say the new package is designed to support farmers dealing with what the administration describes as “years of unjustified trade actions” and broader inflationary pressures.
Trump announced the initiative during an event at the White House, backed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, as well as members of Congress and representatives of farming groups.
“Boosting domestic farm output is central to making life affordable again and lowering grocery bills,” he said.
Farmers growing crops such as sorghum and soybeans have been hit especially hard by the breakdown in trade relations with China, a major buyer of those commodities.
A White House official said the payments are meant to help farmers sell their current harvests, plan for the 2025 growing season, and act as a temporary measure until trade conditions improve.
Rollins noted that the remaining $1bn in funds will help assess the state of specialty crop production and guide future support decisions.
When asked about additional relief packages, Trump said future action would “depend” on how markets respond. “Farmers don’t want handouts; they want fair competition,” he added.
The announcement comes amid rising public concern over the cost of living — an issue Trump has sometimes downplayed — and frustration from farmers who lost access to Chinese markets due to new tariffs.
China, the world’s largest soybean consumer, sharply reduced imports from the U.S. earlier this year after the administration imposed new levies on Chinese goods.
Later the same day, Trump accused Mexico of breaching a decades-old water-sharing treaty and threatened a 5% tariff in response, saying American farmers deserve the resources promised under the agreement.
Some farmers say the government relief will provide short-term breathing room but won’t fix deeper challenges caused by high operating costs and shrinking export opportunities. Rising prices for seeds, fertilisers, and other inputs continue to weigh on profit margins.
Several farmers noted that previous support packages under Trump provided temporary assistance but did not reverse long-term pressure on the sector. Earlier aid programmes issued $22bn in 2019 and $46bn in 2020, including pandemic-related support.
Recent talks between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping led to a pledge from Beijing to buy significant quantities of U.S. soybeans through 2028. Though current purchase volumes fall short of those targets, officials say the pace of imports is increasing and could meet near-term goals.
Explaining the rationale behind the new package, Treasury Secretary Bessent said American soybean producers had been used as leverage in trade negotiations and that the aid would help farmers plan ahead. He said the goal is to bridge the sector through a difficult period until market conditions improve.
Trump also signed an executive order over the weekend establishing task forces to strengthen food supply chains and investigate alleged anti-competitive behaviour within the agriculture industry.
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