President Trump’s trade wars are hurting U.S. farmers, but Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is working to keep them from getting more frustrated even as he promotes President Trump’s agenda, The Washington Post’s Annie Gowen and William Wan report:
“Perdue could have some welcome news for this key constituency that helped elect Trump — a third round of bailout payments on top of the more than $26 billion already being spent.
"Two economists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said a third round of payments for farmers increasingly is seen as inevitable, particularly if a trade deal with China is not reached soon. The amount has not been determined.
"Perdue said Thursday he was ‘hopeful’ that the pending trade deal would ‘supplant any type of farm aid needed in 2020.’ But a third round of aid could be crucial to shoring up Trump’s support in rural America as the election looms, analysts say.
