USDA to Administer Nearly $6Bln in Aid to Farmers Hurt by Retaliatory Tariffs

The announcement comes after the United States and Mexico reached a bilateral deal as a result of the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations. Canada has not joined the accord yet, but the talks between Washington and Ottawa continue.

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Trump administration is set to distribute nearly $6 billion in financial assistance to US farmers who have been affected by retaliatory tariffs.

"USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will administer the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to provide payments to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean and wheat producers starting September 4, 2018… Total $4,696,300," USDA said in a press release on Monday.

In this July 18, 2012, file photo, a pedestrian walks past credit card logos posted on a downtown storefront in Atlanta. After a stint of frugality, Americans have returned to their borrowing ways. But are they getting into the kinds of debt trouble that lead to recessions? In 2017, U.S. consumers now owe roughly $12.73 trillion to banks and other lenders for mortgages, car loans and credit card spending, according to the New York Federal Reserve. That exceeds even the total before the last financial crisis.

The Agriculture Department will also administer a Food Purchase and Distribution Program to buy up to "$1.2 billion in commodities unfairly targeted by unjustified retaliation," the release said.

Moreover, the US government will make $200 million available for expanding foreign markets for US products, but the details of this program are yet to be determined, the release added.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Canada for what he called are its unfair trade practices that hurt US farmers and pledged to close a new deal that will stop putting the United States at a disadvantage.