Trump farm bailouts raise risks of reprisals from trade partners (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg published an article stating President Donald Trump’s billions in bailout payments for farmers probably pushed the U.S. past international treaty limits on subsidies, potentially inviting retaliation from trading partners. Senior Research Fellow Joseph Glauber explained that trade rules have complex procedures for determining which “crop year” to attribute aid payments. Whether other countries pursue retaliation this time will probably depend on whether the extra aid continues in future years. “The big problem with this administration is this isn’t an isolated event,” he said. “You see big payments made in 2018, again in 2019 and now in 2020.”