This afternoon, The Heritage Foundation’s Jay Van Andel trade economist, Tori Whiting, issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s plan to provide $12 billion in assistance to farmers and ranchers that have been negatively affected by retaliatory trade tariffs:

 

“The Trump administration’s plan to provide $12 billion in aid to farmers and ranchers is a misguided attempt to mitigate the harm caused by its tariffs at the expense of taxpayers. Bad policy doesn’t justify more bad policy, yet this is exactly what is happening. The administration’s plan to throw money at a problem that it has created will not increase the freedom to trade in America. In fact, the harm to American businesses, farmers, ranchers, and workers will only worsen as more tariffs are levied. The best way to help American farmers and ranchers is not through wasteful spending, but to ditch the administration’s harmful tariff policies and instead focus on increasing access to new markets for producers.”