USDA ‘crunching numbers’ for potential tariff relief, official says ‘lots’ changed during shutdown

Farmers will have to wait for the USDA to “crunch numbers” on recent trade deals as the department considers tariff relief, a USDA official said on Nov. 17, 2025. (Photo: Cassandra Stephenson) (Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is “crunching numbers” as it considers potential relief for farmers from tariff-related losses, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen A. Vaden said Monday.

President Donald Trump’s administration previously hinted that it might devote up to $12 billion to aid payments for farmers who were hurt by tariff policies this year, Politico reported in late October.

“This department only woke back up on Thursday of last week,” Vaden said, referencing the Nov. 12 conclusion of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. “Lots of things changed during (the government shutdown),” including trade agreements with China, Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Japan, he added.

“Those have resulted in major commitments to buy American commodities and USDA now needs to take into account the effect that those commodity purchases will have on the market … going into 2026,” Vaden said.

TN Soybean farmers face ‘desperate situation’ amid inflation, weather extremes and tariffs

China is a top consumer of U.S. soybean exports, the largest agricultural export in the U.S. China froze purchases of U.S. soybeans this year while battling with Trump over tariffs, leaving U.S. soybean farmers without orders from their largest customer for months.

The White House announced a trade agreement with China in October in which China agreed to purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of 2025, and at least 25 million metric tons each year through 2028.

But USDA data logging sales activity from Oct. 2 through Nov. 12 shows China made only two soybean purchases from the U.S. totaling 232,000 metric tons. Just 45 days remain until Jan. 1, 2026.

Asked what would happen if China does not meet the 12 million metric ton agreement by the Jan. 1 deadline, a USDA spokesperson wrote that the “farm economy is in a difficult situation” and Trump is “utilizing all the tools available to ensure farmers have what they need to continue their farming operations.”

The USDA will “continue to assess the farm economy and explore the need for further assistance, however, there is nothing new to share at this time,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to the Lookout.

Vaden’s remarks came during a Monday news conference announcing the second round of  federal disaster assistance for farmers through the USDA’s Supplemental Disaster Relief Program.

The department is “busy crunching those (trade agreement) numbers now and we’ll let you know when we have an announcement, but we would have had an announcement much earlier if we’d been open over the past 45 days, and unfortunately now, thanks to the minority in Congress, we’re playing catch-up,” he said.