A Dog Chasing its Tail Needs More Than a Band Aid

Several weeks ago, Joni Ernst, junior senator, Iowa, was being questioned by the moderator of CBS' "Face The Nation" on the topic of trade war and the significant price the Trump administration's policy was extracting from pork producers and soybean farmers in her red/purple state.  Sen. Ernst calmly declared that while her agricultural constituents were understandably anxious about the ultimate effectiveness of higher tariffs and continue to extol the virtues of free trade, Iowa proudly remained Trump country -- confident that the president's long-term plan made sense. "TRADE NOT AID," Ernst roared in response like a delegate to the National Convention of Adam Smith Lovers. She went on to insist that Iowa producers were solely interested in reclaiming revenue fairly won from honest markets. That's why she must have been shocked, along with a large host of lawmakers and agricultural producers in general, when USDA announced on Tuesday winning numbers for an unexpected, unsolicited aid package worth $12 billion, payable to a selected pool of would-be global traders...USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled the unusual package (aid, bail-out, subsidy, give-away -- take your pick) with great fanfare, to be dispersed through three separate programs (i.e., direct assistance, food purchases and trade promotion). Under the plan, farmers growing soybeans, corn, sorghum, wheat, cotton, milk and hogs will be able to apply for "tariff aid payments" sometime this fall to offset the impact of lost trade markets.