The Department of Agriculture Thursday released details of the trade aid package calculations for payments, a method previously unknown and questioned by some ag sectors. As the Trump Administration talked with lawmakers on the trade package, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released a “detailed accounting” of how USDA calculated estimated damage from trade disruptions. Perdue says the Chief Economist office of USDA developed an estimate of gross trade damages for commodities with assessed retaliatory tariffs by Canada, China, the European Union, Mexico, and Turkey to set commodity payment rates and purchase levels in the trade mitigation package announced by USDA earlier this month. Perdue says USDA used the same approach often used in World Trade Organization trade dispute cases. The full description of the Trade Damage Estimation for the Market Facilitation Program and Food Purchase and Distribution Program is available on the website of USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist.
