FTA:

President Donald Trump spent billions of dollars to bail out farmers when his first-term trade war hurt agricultural exports.

But his new tariffs could be much worse for farmers this time around.

The farm economy has shifted dramatically since 2018. Higher inflation has sent prices for fertilizer, seed and other inputs soaring and increased interest rates for farmers' annual operating loans to as high as 8 percent this year. Prices for major crops like soybeans and corn have plummeted roughly 40 percent since 2022--partly because Trump's first trade war reshaped the global market for soybeans, with Brazil and Argentina emerging as major competitors to the U.S.

And though Trump is starting to explore another bailout, the fund he used to assist farmers the first time is now nearly depleted.