Wall Street Journal Editorial
You knew it was coming. As President Trump’s tariffs damage farmers and businesses across the U.S., the victims are besieging the Administration for relief. The long lines at the Commerce and Agriculture departments are the latest proof of self-destructive tariff folly.
Soybean farmers appear to be next in line, as their main export market in China has shrunk as Beijing has retaliated against the Trump tariffs. China has turned to growers in Argentina and Brazil as alternative soybean suppliers. U.S. soybean exports to China totaled 218 million bushels through August this year, down sharply from 985 million bushels in 2024.
The industry is understandably seeking help from the Administration that is the source of its trouble. One idea would be to negotiate a deal that gets China to repeal its 23% tariff on U.S. soybeans. But instead the Trump Administration is considering a bailout plan with direct payments to farmers.
CNN reports the bailout could be as large as $10 billion to start, and don’t be surprised if it’s more. The farm economy is struggling this year owing to tariffs as well as the shortage of labor amid Mr. Trump’s mass deportation plans. Exports typically account for some 20% of U.S. agricultural production.
The looming bailout is a refutation of the claim that tariffs are cost-free. They aren’t if, like soybean growers, you are the target of retaliation. Mr. Trump likes to say that tariffs are a windfall for the Treasury, but not if much of that revenue is going back out the door in subsidies to offset the tariff harm.
First Mr. Trump imposes tariffs that he says only hurt foreigners. But when that turns out not to be true, he takes political credit for payments to offset the damage as if he’s somehow protecting the American farmer. How about not hurting them in the first place?
The farm fiasco underscores another truth about tariffs, which is that they expand what Mr. Trump used to call “the swamp.” Industries and individual companies hit by tariffs are flocking to Washington to lobby for relief. The Beltway bandits on K Street have never had it so good.
If you’re politically favored, your company can benefit. Pfizer has earned a three-year reprieve from drug tariffs by agreeing to sell to Medicaid at the lowest price it sells in the developed world. Shares of Ford, GM and Stellantis popped on Friday on reports of likely new tariff relief for the U.S. car makers. Success in American business these days increasingly depends on how well you are liked at the White House, more than on your product, technology or management acumen.
Mr. Trump’s tariffs are great for the political class, not so much for everyone else.
