Trump plans farm aid to ease tariff pain

The Department of Agriculture is expected to announce Tuesday billions of dollars in relief for American farmers affected by U.S. trade disputes with China, which retaliated against U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, and other goods by taxing American pork and soybeans. The White House insists negotiating fair trade deals will benefit farmers and the rest of the U.S. economy in the long term. “In the near term, is there some relief we can look at? Well, we’ll see,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. said.

Some Republicans in Congress, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, said President Donald Trump could help farmers best by not getting into a trade war. “America’s farmers don’t want to be paid to lose—they want to win by feeding the world,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said.

The plan comes as Trump speaks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Kansas City, Mo., in the heart of the nation’s farm country.