Grassley Talks Food Aid, Tariffs

U.S. global food aid is stalled as the Trump Administration and government efficiency chief Elon Musk look to dismantle or combine parts of the U.S. Agency for International Development into the State Department.  And House Ag Democrats contend that roughly $340 million dollars in U.S. food aid is now in limbo or stuck at U.S. ports, saying key aid programs like Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole are frozen.

Furloughed USAID employees and the still-empty helm at USDA, they argue, jeopardize future farm commodity sales for food aid.  But Republicans like Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley are hesitant to criticize President Trump for his foreign aid freeze.

“He got a mandate from the voters to drain the swamp, and this is a perfect example of a swamp that needs to be drained. Now, does it need to be drained of food aid? No.” 

Grassley is confident food aid will restart after USAID programs are vetted and waste eliminated.  Republicans are also withholding judgment on Trump’s tariffs after success in winning border concessions from Mexico and Canada, and the impact of Trump’s first-term tariffs.

“It didn’t increase costs to the consumer, and it didn’t have an impact on inflation," Grassley said.  "Now, will that be repeated?  I could not categorically say it’s going to have the impact (in) Trump 47 because the economic environment is a little bit different than it was.” 

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