Setting Aside Money In Case of NAFTA Failure?

A Politico report shows just how worried some lawmakers are about the potential failure of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations.  Officials began talking on Tuesday, December 19th, about putting together a potential bailout of sorts for farmers.

During a conference call, Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said he was going to ask U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer about the rumors in DC of money being put together and set aside to help farmers in case the NAFTA negotiations fall apart.

Grassley said: “I’ve heard rumors that people in the bureaucracy are trying to anticipate what we are going to do to protect small farmers from drops in prices should the U.S. pull out of NAFTA. There’s some talk going around about potentially putting together a pot of money we could use to support prices in case of a collapse resulting from a NAFTA withdrawal.”

Grassley added government assistance is the last thing the agriculture industry wants.  “Farmers don’t want more money from the federal treasury,” he adds, “They want their money to come from the marketplace.”

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