ABC News reports Trump says $12 billion bailout plan for farmers will come from tariff revenue

President Donald Trump announced a total $12 billion in funding to help American farmers during an event on Monday, and said that it would come from tariff revenue.

"I'm delighted to announce this afternoon that the United States will be taking a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs. … and we're going to be giving and providing it to the farmers in economic assistance. And we love our farmers," the president said.

The package includes $11 billion in one-time payments to crop farmers through a new Department of Agriculture bridge payment program. The remaining funds will then go to other crops not covered by that program.

Impact of Tariffs on Farmers

The aid package comes as the U.S.-China trade war has hit soybean farmers especially hard. Through most of this fall, during a bumper harvest season, China had blocked all purchases of soybeans from the U.S.

China was the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans in 2024, accounting for $12.64 billion in sales, according to the USDA.

During Trump's high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi in late October, the U.S. and China announced a framework trade agreement that included a deal on soybeans. China agreed to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans in the final two months of this year and 25 million metric tons in 2026, 2027 and 2028 — on par with levels before the trade war.

So far, China has purchased about 2.2 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S. since the end of October, USDA data shows.

Farmer Bailout Step-by-Step

Launch a trade war.

China retaliates.

Soybean exports plunge to zero.

Propose a "one-time" farmer bailout similar to the "one-time" farmer bailout in his first term.

Fund the bailout with money collected from US taxpayers via tariffs which are a tax on US consumers and businesses.

Ignore everyone else damaged by these preposterous tariffs as if only farmers matter.

Please note the huge TACOs on tariffs. The average tariff rate is now about 18 percent or so, down from 50-100 percent announcements.