Trump administration is months away from direct payments to farmers, agriculture secretary says

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By Leah Douglas

(Reuters) -U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Fox News on Thursday the Trump administration is “months away” from making a decision about whether to make payments to farmers to offset any impact from tariffs.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced sweeping tariffs that were mostly criticized by farm and food groups for their potential to shrink markets for farmers and raise prices for consumers.

Rollins has said the administration would consider making payments to farmers in the case of any economic hit from tariffs.

“We are months, literally months away, from understanding if that’s going to be necessary,” Rollins said.

During his first administration, Trump paid billions to farmers to offset losses from a trade war with China.

Rollins has said she has spoken with Trump’s first-term Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue about mirroring the approach in Trump’s second term.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Rollins said Trump remains committed to farmers but farmers and ranchers “understand that there may be a short time of uncertainty.”

She did not answer a question about how long “short-term” would last.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese)