https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/us/politics/farmers-bailouts-trump-tariffs.html

Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said last week that the administration may look to offer emergency aid to farmers, telling reporters that Mr. Trump had asked her to “have some programs in place that would potentially mitigate any economic catastrophes that could happen” in a global trade standoff.

But the price tag this time could prove even higher, since Mr. Trump has threatened to target many countries, including American allies like Europe, Canada, Mexico and Japan. The potential scope of their collective retribution could inflict deeper, more lasting harm on American businesses.

Administration officials have discussed the early contours of a possible farmer bailout with industry lobbying groups and Republican congressional offices, according to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the talks. They have raised a few potential mechanisms for providing the funds, some of which may require legislation, the people said, cautioning that the conversations were in early stages because Mr. Trump has not yet finalized his trade strategy.

But an expensive federal bailout threatens to cut deeply into one of Mr. Trump’s signature reasons for pursuing protectionist policies in the first place: a desire to rake in “lots of money,” as the president himself has said. Mr. Trump and his Republican allies say the new tariffs could help pay for their still-forming plan to expand and extend a set of expiring tax cuts, which could cost into the trillions of dollars.

“In addition to consumers being impacted by tariffs, now you have taxpayers who are going to be on the hook,” said Alex Durante, a senior economist at the Tax Foundation, a think tank that generally favors lower taxes.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5702673&forum_id=2Elisa#48799483)