In October, President Trump announced plans to use up to $14 billion of tariff revenue to help farmers.
But lawmakers may have to take other measures to get to those amounts.
“There isn’t enough money in the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to reach $10 billion to $14 billion,” Sen. Chuck Grassley told reporters on Dec. 2. “Congress is going to have to appropriate more money.”
The CCC has an authorized capital stock of $100 million held by the federal government and can borrow $30 billion from the Treasury at any one time, the USDA’s website says.
During cabinet meeting remarks, Secretary Rollins said, “farmers have been farming for government checks instead of moving their product around the world,” while noting recent trade deals are working to bring “the golden age back to rural America.”
U.S. producers grow and harvest some of the best products in the world, which is evident by recent action from China, Rollins added.
“China announced that they were going to halt all (soybean) purchases from Brazil because they had found some irregularities in some of the soybeans they’re buying from Brazil,” she said. “And what this means is a continued signal that this country and our farmers produce the best, highest quality soybeans, sorghum, etc. in the world.”