Key Points
- Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package while blaming Biden for the agricultural trade deficit.
- The claim is misleading; the surplus began shrinking and dipped into deficit during Trump’s first term.
- The U.S.-China trade war, started by Trump, is a major cause of the problem due to retaliatory tariffs.
- Other key factors include a strong U.S. dollar and increased competition from South America.
As President Donald Trump unveiled a $12 billion aid package for farmers hurt by his trade policies, he pointed the finger at former President Joe Biden for the nation’s agricultural trade deficit. However, experts say Trump is ignoring a much more complex reality, including his own administration’s role in the problem.
Trump claims he had a large farm trade surplus that Biden ruined. The numbers tell a different story. While the U.S. had a surplus for decades, it began to shrink and even briefly became a deficit in 2019, during Trump’s first term. Although it recovered temporarily, the deficit has grown significantly since 2022.
A major cause of the problem is the U.S.-China trade war, which Trump himself started in 2018. When the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, China hit back with tariffs on key American farm products like soybeans. This retaliation made it much harder for U.S. farmers to sell their crops, a situation that continues today under Trump’s new round of tariffs.
Now, China is looking to other countries for its agricultural needs, punishing the U.S. for its trade policies.
But politics isn’t the only factor. Experts also point to a strong U.S. dollar, which makes American exports more expensive for other countries to buy. At the same time, fierce competition from countries like Brazil and Argentina has driven down global prices for crops like soy and corn.
Add in major global events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and it becomes clear that blaming a single president is a massive oversimplification.
