WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., led a bipartisan letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue demanding that he increase trade war relief payments to dairy farmers. Welch and the legislators assert in the May 17 letter that the current trade mitigation program has failed to fairly compensate dairy farmers slammed by retaliatory tariffs.
“While we appreciate the administration’s efforts to assist producers with damages they have incurred due to retaliatory tariffs, the amount of assistance directed to dairy producers in previous trade relief efforts was inadequate,” wrote the legislators. “We encourage you to increase dairy assistance to a level that more accurately reflects the damages dairy farmers have faced.”
The letter, authored by Welch, was signed by Dairy Caucus Co-Chairs Tom Reed, R-N.Y.; Joe Courtney, D-Conn.; Sean Duffy, R-Wis.; and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).