Southern Farmers Gained The Most In 2019's Tariff Payments, GAO Finds
By Jonathan Coppess, Joe Janzen, Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, and Krista Swanson, University of Illinois Ag Economists; and Carl Zulauf, Ohio State University Ag Economist
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report that reviewed USDA’s 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) and payments. USDA has reported that it made $14.495 billion in payments to farmers as of August 31, 2020. This article reviews the GAO report.
In the first quarter of 2018, the Trump Administration implemented tariffs on a variety of imports and trading partners impacted by the tariffs, especially China, retaliated with tariffs on American exports. The ensuing conflict was particularly acute for American soybean exports to China.