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National Farmers Union critical of latest Trump trade aid plan

The National Farmers Union is calling President Trump’s proposed 15-billion-dollar trade aid “insufficient.”  National Vice-President Patty Edelburg from Amherst Junction, Wisconsin tells Brownfield what farmers really need is an end to the trade war. “His trade war is causing some major issues with farmers, so the 15-billion will be helpful, but on the other hand, we also realize it’s not going to go very far. We need a major fix, not just a short term solution.”

Edelburg says Trump’s approach to trade is not helping farmers. “We’ve said for years that China’s trade policies haven’t worked for us, but the way we’re going about it isn’t going to fix their trade policies and it’s not going to fix the fact that the farmers are taking the brunt of the hits for it all.”

And, Edelburg says farmers are caught in the middle when they can’t afford any more financial setbacks. “We’re hearing that more and more people can’t get loans but are selling out. The banks are making them sell. Bankruptcies are obviously on the rise. I don’t know how much longer a lot of farmers can hang on through this.”

National President Roger Johnson tweeted Tuesday saying temporary solutions are not sufficient to address the permanent damage the trade war has inflicted on agricultural export markets.

The Trump Administration has not released details for the proposed 15-billion in trade aid announced Monday.  Negotiations continue between the two countries, and Trump plans to meet with the Chinese President at the G-20 meetings in Japan.