On August 27th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the details of the $12 billion aid package to help farmers. The aid package is part of a short-term relief strategy created by Secretary Sonny Perdue to protect agricultural producers while the Trump administration continues to work on trade. The USDA has created three programs to disburse the funds: Market Facilitation Program, Food Purchase and Distribution Program, and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program.
The Market Facilitation Program ($4.7B) will provide direct payments to farmers that have incurred losses do to trade disruptions. While, the Food Purchase and Distribution Program ($1.2B) will purchase excess agricultural goods and distribute them through nutrition assistance programs.
The Foreign Agricultural Service will be responsible for the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program ($200M). Cooperator groups will be able to access these funds to develop foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. The program will help U.S. agricultural exporters identify and access new markets and help mitigate the adverse effects of other countries’ restrictions.