Trump’s farm bailout sees some support in Oklahoma
U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, a Cheyenne Republican who represents Oklahoma’s agriculture-reliant western half, says President Donald Trump was right to compensate the farmers and ranchers who are casualties in a trade war the president started months ago.
“I am very impressed that he remembered his commitment and, to the tune of $12 billion, is trying to step up and do what he said he would do,” Lucas said. “I just hope we prevail in these trade struggles soon.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Agriculture announced it will set aside $12 billion for farmers and ranchers who have been financially harmed by tariffs imposed on American products as part of a global tit-for-tat between the U.S. and trade partners in Canada, Europe and China.
The federal government will pay producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs. It will also purchase surpluses of fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk for distribution to food banks and school lunch programs, the USDA said.
Among Oklahoma producers, there is still great uncertainty. Roy Lee Lindsey, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council, sees the bailout as Trump’s attempt to “make good” on his promise to protect farmers and ranchers during the trade war.
“The challenge for us is we don’t know for sure what the package is going to do,” Lindsey said of the bailout. “While this is a short-term fix, what we’re really still looking for is long-term market accessibility, things that level the playing field for us to be able to
export products around the world.”
Lucas, who has been working on a rewrite of a major farm bill, said he wasn’t consulted on the $12 billion bailout but expects USDA funds to be distributed in September. Mark Nichols, a cotton and wheat farmer in Altus, said it’s unclear how helpful that will be.
“I would say most producers feel like they would rather not have the help, but if that (the trade war) is what they’re going to do, we’re at least glad that they’re stepping in,” Nichols said. “But we would rather not have to do that.”
Farmers and ranchers are overwhelmingly Republican and most are strong supporters of Trump. Pam Snelson, a soybean farmer in Washington and Osage counties, said tariffs are deeply concerning for her business but she still backs the president. Snelson said soybean farmers consider the USDA assistance to be a short-term plan, not a bailout.
“We do appreciate the president’s trying to give us this assistance, but we would prefer a longerterm strategy,” she said.
Free-traders’ surprise
Within the traditionally free-trading Republican Party, members of Congress have struggled to understand and been slow to react to a Republican president who has scoffed at free trade agreements and fired the opening salvos of a trade war with longtime allies of the United States, at least temporarily harming American agriculture in the process.
Rep. Steve Russell, an Oklahoma City Republican, met with Oklahoma Farm Bureau members late last week and found them “very, very concerned” about the impact of a trade war on Oklahoma products.
“So many of these products were starting to take hold and find markets and move. Now, doors are being closed. Americans are right to be concerned about these things,” Russell told The
Oklahoman on Friday. “You’re seeing staunch allies like Japan setting trade agreements with staunch allies like Germany and France ... Once those markets get established, it’s going to be really tough for us to exert and establish ourselves. So, we’re watching it. We’re watching it very closely.”
Another Oklahoma City Republican, Sen. James Lankford, called tariffs and agricultural bailouts “the wrong direction to go” during remarks on Capitol Hill this week. “Most of the folks I know in the ag community aren’t looking for an additional subsidy. They want their markets back open.”
Lankford visited the White House for a discussion on trade and tariffs Wednesday, soon after the president announced he is negotiating directly with the European Union.
The struggle
Supporters of the president have sold the trade war as a painful but necessary fight if the country is to reset what they perceive to be unfair trade agreements between the United States and much of the world.
“When you’re trying to reset the world order on trade to bring true fairness to it, that’s a tough struggle,” Lucas said.
“The president has said for weeks now, maybe months, that he was prepared to offset part of the consequences of this struggle in the spirit of making sure we can prevail and ultimately wind up, truly, with fair trade. This $12 billion is, I believe, the president trying to live up to the promises he made to production agriculture that if this fight got ugly, he wouldn’t turn his back on us and I don’t think he has.”
Sen. Jim Inhofe, a Tulsa Republican and frequent defender of the president, said he also supports the Trump administration’s agricultural bailout.
“As this administration continues to negotiate the best long-term agreements for America, our farmers and ranchers should not have to pay the price,” the senator said.