Trump-China trade war assistance package includes $14.5B in 'direct payments' to farmers

[Sapidus]

More welfare for farmers is coming at the expense of taxpayers due to Trump's trade war with China.

"The Trump administration said Thursday that it would provide $14.5 billion in "direct payments" to farmers as part of an aid package to offset the damage caused by the trade war with China. Another $1.4 billion would be allocated to purchase surplus agricultural commodities.


The assistance, which wouldn't require congressional approval, would be the second aid package the Trump administration has given to farmers within the last year, having authorized $12 billion in farm aid last year.

President Trump said it was a necessary expenditure to push back against China's policies and that "patriotic" farmers backed his effort. He argued that the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would cover the costs of the aid. "It all comes from China. We'll being taking in hundreds of billions of dollars from China," he said"

As usual with Trump the last part is a lie. US consumers will pay the price for Tariffs. Not China Any idiot who graduated High School knows that

Trump-China trade war assistance package includes $14.5B in 'direct payments' to farmers

The Trump administration said Thursday that it would provide $14.5 billion in "direct payments" to farmers as part of an aid package to offset the damage caused by the trade war with China. Another $1.4 billion would be allocated to purchase surplus agricultural commodities.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

 

[GURPS]

As mentioned by some of the press coverage, there’s evidence that China has concentrated the tariffs in the agriculture sector and the chemicals sector—obviously two very big parts of the American economy. But if you look in detail at Beijing’s tariff list, what’s most striking is how few major U.S. export categories are affected.

For example, take a look at chemicals (and chemical products). Nineteen sub-sectors in this grouping generated at least $100 million in U.S. exports to China last year. Their total sales to the People’s Republic were just under $5.24 billion—about 44 percent of the total $11.80 billion worth of 2018 American chemical and chemicals-related shipments to China. Three types of chemical products will clearly be subjected to tariffs: makeup and skincare preparations, certain kinds of photographic film, and ethylbenzene. Their total exports to China in 2018 fell slightly short of $745 million. That’s only 6.31 percent of all 2018 U.S. exports to China in these sectors, and less than one half of one percent of America’s $159.13 billion in total chemicals and chemicals-related exports last year.

But based on what we know, what’s even more revealing about China’s choices are the U.S.-made products that haven’t made any tariff list. They include civilian aircraft and their engines and parts, which had a 2018 export total of $17.73 billion. They include semiconductors and their components, which last year had China shipments that totaled several billion additional dollars. They include the equipment needed to manufacture and inspect semiconductors and their parts, which racked up at least $850 million in 2018 exports to China; devices for conducting chemical and physical analyses (with $912 million in China exports last year); laser equipment ($304 million), motor vehicles, auto parts, and plastics resins and polymers (which each produced billions in exports to China); and billions of dollars’ worth of other products that the Chinese either can’t (yet) make or can’t make in the amounts that they need—or that consist of goods preferred by Chinese consumers over their Made in China counterparts.





https://nationalinterest.org/feature/chinas-tariff-list-advertises-its-trade-war-weakness-58637