Source: Jerry Hagstrom, PROGRESSIVE FARMER, 12/21/21

The Trump administration's payments to farmers to offset the effects of the trade war with China -- the Market Facilitation Program -- ended up overpaying for certain commodities and undervaluing others, according to the Government Accountability Office. The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, released a report on Monday on the MFP in 2018 and 2019 examining how $23 billion was paid out in the program. The GAO showed payments by USDA significantly overestimated the actual trade damages suffered by producers of certain commodities.

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