U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today issued the following statement on the administration’s plan to pay $12 billion to farmers impacted by the trade war.
“With this announcement, the administration is borrowing $12 billion from taxpayers – which given the enormous price tag still barely compensates for the losses to farmers and ranchers as well as lost markets that will be difficult to just bring back as they took years to create,” Heitkamp said. “A study shows that corn, soybean and wheat farmers across the U.S. have already lost $13 billion because of the administration’s trade war. We need trade policies that make sense for North Dakota, protect farmers and ranchers, and open up markets. Today I introduced a bill to help provide some assistance to farmers at no additional cost, but the only truly long-term solution to strengthen our farm economy and save tax payer dollars is to give up this misguided trade war. Period.”