Trump under fire from Republicans for handing $12bn to US farmers

President tells supporters to 'just be a little patient' on trade strategy

Soybeans are one of the American products hardest hit by retaliatory tariffs (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Members of Donald Trump’s own party are turning on him over a multibillion-dollar federal relief package for US farmers, which many see as an attempt to conceal the effects of a global trade war they warned the president not to start in the first place.

The Trump administration announced $12bn in handouts to American farmers this week, in an attempt to ease the pain caused by the president’s confrontational trade policies.

Farmers’ groups estimate they have lost as much as $13bn in recent months, as countries like China, Canada, and Mexico slapped their own tariffs on US goods in response to Mr Trump’s duties on foreign imports.

The countries designed their tariffs to hit American farmers and manufacturers in key Republican states the hardest – something GOP lawmakers increasingly fear will hurt them in November’s midterm elections.

Republican Senator Pat Toomey lambasted the administration on Twitter, claiming it was “trying to put a band-aid on a self-inflicted wound”.

“The administration clobbers farmers with an unnecessary trade war then attempts to assuage them with taxpayer handouts,” Mr Toomey said. “This bailout compounds bad policy with more bad policy.”

“This trade war is cutting the legs out from under farmers, and the White House’s ‘plan’ is to spend $12bn on gold crutches,” added Senator Ben Sasse.

The comments cut to the heart of many Republicans’ concerns: that Mr Trump’s tariffs and handouts contradict the party’s message of free trade and free markets, and – perhaps more importantly – could spark a revolt from struggling workers.

Many conservatives cautioned earlier this year against the president’s tariffs on steel and aluminium, and on $34bn worth of Chinese goods, warning that foreign retaliation could put American jobs at risk.

Senator John Thune told reporters that the relief package “an acknowledgement” by Mr Trump that imposing tariffs “has a lot of unintended consequences that creates a lot of collateral damage”.

“Tariffs are taxes that punish American consumers and producers,” Republican Senator Rand Paul tweeted. “If tariffs punish farmers, the answer is not welfare for farmers – the answer is remove the tariffs.”

Agriculture Department officials called the handouts a “one-time” remedy to buy time while Mr Trump negotiates trade deals, according to NBC.

The president pre-empted criticism on Tuesday morning by tweeting: “Tariffs are the greatest!” Later that day, he promised that farmers would eventually be the “biggest beneficiary” of his trade policy.

“We're opening up markets. You watch what's going to happen,” he said in a speech to veterans in Kansas City, Missouri. “Just be a little patient.”

Under the relief package, the Agriculture Department will make incremental payments to producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, and hogs. The government will also purchase surpluses of commodities like fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk for distribution to food banks and other nutrition programmes.

Farmers can begin signing up for the programme in September, Agriculture Department officials said.