Illinois e-News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 10, 2025

Springfield, IL — History is repeating itself as President Donald Trump announces a tariff aid package in response to his self-manufactured trade crisis that began shortly after he took office in January.

Due to the last major trade war during Trump’s first term, U.S. agricultural export losses exceeded an estimated $27 billion from mid-2018 to the end of 2019, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service. Then $23.1 billion in federal assistance provided a band-aid to farmers but did nothing to restore damage to international trade relationships built over decades.

The $11 billion in aid to row crop farmers announced today is less than half of the previous package resulting from Trump’s prior trade war.

“Tariffs are crushing farmers again. Financial losses are worse this time around, yet the aid package is 50% smaller,” said Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) Director Jerry Costello II. “We’re seeing repeated devastation with greater losses than Trump 1. It defies logic.”

Meanwhile, details of China’s alleged agreement to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans this year have yet to be shared. On December 5, USDA confirmed that only 2.25 million tons of soybeans had been purchased by China to date, and the deadline has been extended to the end of February. 

What is most concerning is that China has not adhered to previous purchase obligations. Reuters reported in October, “The US Trade Representative’s office … launched a new tariff investigation into China’s ‘apparent failure’ to comply with the ‘Phase One’ trade deal signed with President Donald Trump in 2020 to end his first-term US-China trade war.” 

“The deadline extension is more smoke and mirrors,” Costello said. “Even if China made good on the purchase, which is proven unlikely, export totals remain far short of those prior to another manufactured trade war.”

Economists say repeated ag packages distort land values, cash rents, equipment purchases and overall decision-making.

Costello equates the farming crisis to arson. 

“If someone set your house on fire and then borrowed your garden hose to attempt to extinguish the flames, would you thank them for their help? Because the expectation from Trump is that farmers should be grateful to him for offering a bailout to the crisis he created,” Costello said. “Illinois farmers want trade not aid.”