You read the title correctly. Depression era and Trump polices in same sentence.
Trump’s trade war is a big loser for the American taxpayer. The White House will rollout a program that will throw $12B In taxpayer dollars at Trump’s inane trade war polices. Taxpayers will subsidize farmers, to save their votes for Republicans.
Trump will use a “depression-era program” to implement the policy. At the rate we are going under Trump, another Great Depression or Great Recession is possible.
Farm groups have complained that moves by China and other countries in response to Trump’s protectionist trade stance this year could cost them billions of dollars, spooking Republicans who fear a political and economic blowback to Trump’s approach.
The White House has searched for months for a way to provide emergency assistance to farmers without backing down on Trump’s trade agenda, and the new program will extend roughly $12 billion through three different mechanisms run by the Department of Agrigulture.
The funds will come through direct assistance, a food purchase and distribution program, and a trade promotion program.
It will rely in part on a Depression-era program called the Commodity Credit Corporation, which is a division of the Agriculture Department that was created in 1933 to offer a financial backstop for farmers.
Soy prices have fallen particularly hard this year, though Trump has tried to deflect blame and alleged the Obama administration was at fault. Trump has promised soy farmers he would take care of them, and the new plan at the Agriculture Department could be a step in that direction.