Trump's Trade War: Farmers Get Billions, China Gets the Blame
The Independent reports on a $12 billion aid package for US farmers, allegedly to mitigate losses from Trump's trade war with China. This is presented as a solution, not a cover-up for a predictable disaster. This isn't aid; it's a taxpayer bailout for a policy that blew up in the administration's face. The U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods in July 2018, with more
threatened, leading to China retaliating with its own tariffs on U.S. agricultural products like soybeans, pork, and corn. Farmers were merely collateral damage in a political posturing exercise. The 'trade war' was always a political weapon, not an economic strategy. One might wonder if the government should just start a fire and then get applauded for putting it out with a garden hose purchased
with taxpayer money? It's a classic move: create a problem, then solve it with public funds, and somehow emerge as the savior. How many more domestic industries will be sacrificed at the altar of ' America First' optics, only to be patched up with billions of taxpayer dollars that could have gone to actual independent farmers not reliant on government handouts, or perhaps healthcare, or education?
It’s not aid when you’re paying to clean up your own mess.