The Trump administration was expected to announce up to $15 billion in aid to farmers hurt by his trade war with China as soon as Thursday, people familiar with the plan said, Bloomberg reported.
The plan would be similar to a program the administration put in place last year after China slapped retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products, though the new payments will be more generous.
The administration was eyeing payments of about $2 per bushel to soybean growers, 63 cents per bushel to wheat growers and 4 cents per bushel to corn growers to compensate for losses from the trade war, the news service reported, citing sources.
Team Trump in 2018 paid $1.65 per bushel for soybeans, 14 cents per bushel for wheat and 1 cent per bushel for corn.
GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa predicted the payment levels would anger corn farmers, unless the administration raised them.
“Corn farmers are going to be very upset about this,” Ernst said. “It’s better than the 1 cent per bushel that they got earlier but it’s not enough.”
Corn growers argued they were short-changed in last year’s $12 billion trade assistance plan and campaigned for better treatment in the new round of aid.
rfredericks@nypost.com