Since the US economy is in crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump on an event at the White House announced an aid program for the farmers in the U.S. He said that the US will be implementing a ban on cattle imports in the country from the countries that have not supported the U.S.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused a drop in the business of food chains and restaurants due to which farmers have suffered financially. He announced an aid of $19 billion to help the farmers during the crisis.
The event was attended by Ivanka Trump, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and farmers from the U.S. Trump said that we have sufficient cattle of our own while we are importing cattle from outside. Even the import is not that large but the cattle are still coming from other countries. He also said that we have supplied in surplus amount along with cattle. He praised the farmers saying that they have been doing a good job.
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Trump said that the cattle are imported in the country by the trade deals made years ago but now we have enough of our own and we do not need to import from other countries.
In 2020, the U.S has imported cattle mainly from Canada and Mexico. The Beef Market Central reported the import of head of cattle which is 530,000 alone this year. U.S trades cattle with Canada and Mexico according to the USMCA trade deal.
Trump said in a conversation with Perdue that he has made valid points and both countries are the allies and supporters of the U.S for several years but we are not always in the need to import more cattle.
He also said that unless a country has been a staunch supporter of the U.S., we will be implementing a ban on importing cattle from that country. This will be the policy of importing cattle into the country.
Trump’s advisors who were negotiating the USMCA trade deal were not able to seal the deal of labeling the country of origin for beef imported from Mexico and Canada.
During the event, an aid program was announced by Trump by which a direct aid of $16 million will be given to the farmers by the Agriculture Department and the Food Box Distribution Program will be launched by which $3 billion will be provided to make purchases of food.
While the U.S was in a war of trade with China, Trump had navigated billions of dollars to farmers during that time. According to the program, the farmers can have access to direct aid per individual of $250,000. This fund is particularly for farmers who have suffered a loss of 5 percent.
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The program will financially support farmers from the dairy industry, vegetable and fruit farmers, and cattle producers.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, numerous people in the U.S have filed for unemployment which has been challenging for the farmers. Due to the current scenario, there has been a huge problem in the distribution of food due to which many farmers have discarded their stock of milk. The farmers have also been forced to euthanize their animals due to the closure of meat processing factories.
Since the schools and restaurants are also closed across the country, the lack of demand for food has severely impacted the industry.