U.S. farmers receive $4.07 billion of latest government trade aid

[September 17, 2019]    CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has paid $4.07 billion of its latest round of compensation for farmers suffering from the trade war with China as of Monday, Communications Director Michawn Rich said in an email to Reuters.

The Trump administration in July announced $16 billion to compensate farmers for lost sales due to China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, on top of $12 billion pledged in last year's aid package.

The aid program got off to a rocky start with farmers complaining of difficulty signing up and confusion over payment rates.

USDA has received 302,397 applications for the program since enrollment opened, Rich said.

(Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Tom Brown)

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