Perdue said the move, tentatively planned for the coming months, was in response to what he called U.S. trading partners’ “illegal retaliation” to the policies of Trump, who has ordered tariffs on imports ranging from metals to materials to clothing to electronic parts. Those tariffs apply to goods from a broad range of countries, including China and those of the European Union. 

U.S. trading partners are retaliating, with ominous implications for the American Farm Belt. China, a huge market for U.S. agricultural exports, has applied tariffs on $34 billion worth of U.S. goods, including soybeans and pork. Other places applying retaliatory tariffs include allies such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

Congressional lawmakers, with few exceptions, expressed skepticism about the administration’s aid plan, according to The Wall Street Journal. Farmers, the critics said, need certainty on trade, not a bailout from the government. Even GOP senators who usually defend Trump expressed worry that aid might have to be extended to other sectors if he continues his trade fights on various fronts. Read the full story.