President Donald Trump’s proposed bailout of Argentina’s troubled economy is running into unexpected opposition: American farmers who voted for Trump and the elected Republican officials who represent them.
“Powerful agriculture groups” are “sounding alarms” about the $20 billion aid package, said Politico. That’s because China has started buying soybeans from Argentina instead of American farmers in the wake of Trump’s trade wars. “Why would USA help bail out Argentina while they take American soybean producers’ biggest market???” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday on X. Trump allies are selling the deal as an “America First move.” U.S. firms “are going to do extremely well in Argentina,” said Barry Bennett, a lobbyist and former Trump administration official.
Trump’s support for Argentina has “heightened tensions” among farmers already frustrated by the impact of tariffs, said Progressive Farmer. China reportedly purchased 1.3 million metric tons of Argentinian soybeans after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the aid proposal. “The frustration is overwhelming” for American farmers, said Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association. The U.S. agricultural economy is suffering “while our competitors supplant the United States in the biggest soybean import market in the world.”
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China is “turning up its nose” at American soybeans, said The Economist. The “tit-for-tat” tariffs between the U.S. and China have made those soybeans “much more expensive than imports from Argentina and Brazil,” and that was before Argentina’s recent announcement that it is waiving grain export taxes. To get a sense of how badly this hurts U.S. farmers, consider that at this point in 2024, China had “ordered close to 40% of America’s overseas sales.” Now, China has “not booked a single shipment.”
The Argentina bailout is “all about propping up a Trump ally,” said Allison Morrow at CNN. President Javier Milei is a “hardline libertarian” who has inspired MAGA political figures like Elon Musk. His deep cuts to government spending have curbed inflation, but the Argentinian economy is contracting. The bailout “may buy Milei time” ahead of Argentina’s October midterm elections. But it “leaves the U.S. in an awkward position if Milei can’t win back control of Congress.”
What next?
Trump “wants to give aid to struggling farmers,” said The New York Times. The administration is “not ready to announce a payment plan yet,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday. There is a precedent: A smaller trade war during Trump’s first term also “cost farmers dearly,” said the Times, “prompting the Agriculture Department to pay farmers $23 billion” to make up for lost sales.
Some elected Republicans are pushing back against the Argentina bailout, Axios said. Argentina’s soybean sales to China are a “bitter pill for North Dakota soybean farmers to swallow,” said Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.). But the administration is defending the president’s record. Trump is the “most pro-farmer president of our lifetime,” said an Agriculture Department spokesperson.
