The Trump administration is weighing a bailout package worth up to $14 billion to support U.S. farmers facing sharp losses from the ongoing trade war with China, particularly in the soybean sector.
The potential aid comes as American farmers harvest one of the largest crops in U.S. history — only to find their top export market frozen. U.S. soybean shipments to China have collapsed, falling from nearly a billion bushels in previous years to just over 200 million between January and August 2025. Brazil, in the meantime, has surged into the vacuum, exporting over 2 billion bushels to China in the same period.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the proposed bailout — ranging from $10 billion to $14 billion — would be primarily funded by tariff revenue and aims to cushion producers until broader benefits from the trade policies materialize:
The official stressed that the deliberations were ongoing and that nothing had been definitively settled.
“President Trump and Secretary Rollins are always in touch about the needs of our farmers, who played a crucial role in the President’s November victory,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, referring to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “He has made clear his intention to use tariff revenue to help our agricultural sector, but no final decisions on the contours of this plan have been made,” she added.
Trump said earlier this week that he planned to push Chinese leader Xi Jinping to buy U.S. soybeans to help struggling American farmers. The two leaders are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of a summit in South Korea in the coming weeks. A deal with China to buy soybeans could change Trump’s calculation about providing aid to farmers, the official said.
The administration is considering using the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as a vehicle for the aid. But the CCC currently holds only about $4 billion — far short of what’s needed. While officials are exploring alternatives to avoid seeking new appropriations, some level of congressional approval will likely be required if the bailout exceeds existing resources. This sets the stage for a likely political battle, especially amid budget pressures.
Trump officials still don’t know how big the first tranche of payments will be, insiders told Politico.
Politico also reported that congressional Republicans have been leaning hard on the White House in private, demanding economic relief for a critical voter bloc before next year’s midterms:
Hill Republicans have been pushing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and other Trump officials for weeks to do something to aid farmers reeling from high input costs and the president’s tariffs, which have cut off American soybean farmers’ key markets in China as Beijing retaliates.
Trump has said he would use tariff revenue to provide cash bailouts to farmers, but Congress would likely need to vote to authorize such a move, triggering a major fight between Republicans and Democrats amid already dire government spending conversations.
GOP lawmakers could also move to refill the internal USDA fund in their government funding fight later this fall, but that too will be a battle with Democrats.
Hill Republicans have been quietly working on their own proposal to find additional funding for the farm bailouts, according to four other people with direct knowledge of the matter. Some Republicans estimate they will eventually need to provide $35 billion to $50 billion in aid to farmers hit by Trump’s tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said additional details are expected soon. If approved, payments could begin as early as 2026, though timing remains uncertain.
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