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Senator blasts Trump’s $12B farm aid, cites India tariff fallout
India and the United States have repeatedly clashed over agricultural trade, including duties on apples, pulses and almonds.
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IANS - Wed, 10, Dec 2025
- 00:34 EST
- 3
Senator Maria Cantwell / X/@SenatorCantwell
A senior U.S. senator sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s new $12 billion plan to aid farmers hurt by his trade battles, calling it a “meager bailout” that fails to repair the tariff-driven damage reshaping global markets and hitting major exporters — including products once shipped in large volumes to India.
A day earlier, Trump said he would direct up to $11 billion to a new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program for producers of soybeans, corn, wheat, lentils, chickpeas and barley. Another $1 billion would go to specialty crops, though the administration has not released details or a timeline for distributing the aid. Payments are expected by Feb. 28, 2026.
The assistance will be funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation and administered by the Farm Service Agency. The announcement comes more than a year after Trump’s first round of tariffs triggered rapid retaliation threats against U.S. goods, the USDA said.
Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell said the administration’s plan delivers too little, too late. “Washington farmers don’t want a meager bailout; they want to be able to export their goods across the globe,” she said, warning that “Trump’s tariff chaos is sabotaging decades of hard work winning overseas shelf space.”
She added that the continuing trade fight threatens major Northwest export hubs that move nearly $20 billion worth of U.S. agricultural shipments each year. “Trump’s tariffs continue to harm American consumers, manufacturers and small businesses, who keep paying the costs without relief,” she said.
Specialty crops — which include many of Washington state’s top exports — make up more than 30 percent of U.S. agricultural output but would receive only 8 percent of the aid, according to the release. The category includes apples, cherries, potatoes and pulse crops — sectors deeply affected when India imposed retaliatory tariffs after Trump levied steel and aluminum duties in his first term.
The release noted that U.S. apple exports to India collapsed from $120 million in 2017 to less than $1 million by 2023. It credited Cantwell’s “several years” of advocacy with helping persuade India to end those retaliatory tariffs in September 2023, calling the reversal “welcome news” for more than 1,400 Washington apple growers and tens of thousands of workers.
Cantwell also highlighted her bipartisan Trade Review Act, introduced with Sen. Chuck Grassley, which aims to limit a president’s tariff authority and restore congressional oversight. The bill has drawn bipartisan support and backing from major business groups.
The release pointed to rising consumer prices linked to tariffs, citing Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis economists who found increases in vehicle, electronics and furniture costs.
India and the United States have repeatedly clashed over agricultural trade, including duties on apples, pulses and almonds. India’s removal of retaliatory tariffs in 2023 marked a rare de-escalation as both countries sought to stabilize trade ties.
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