# Secret Subsidies: Program Meant to Help Farmers in Trade War Overspent, Lacked Transparency

> An investigation finds that the USDA Market Facilitation Program, a Trump-era payment program for trade-war losses, paid more than $23 billion. It bypassed Congressional approval by using the Commodity Credit Corporation and, per GAO and USDA auditors, sent over $800 million improperly.

- Date: 2022-11-04 · published 2022-11-04T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: policy · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/38658-secret-subsidies-program-meant-to-help-farmers-in-trade-war-overspent-lacked
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md)

## Why it matters

This is a historical review of past subsidy payments with no direct new supply or demand change, so it has little effect on feed grain or meal prices.

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2022-10-24 | [Secret Subsidies: Program meant to help farmers in trade war overspent, lacked transparency and compliance checks](https://feedsoft.ai/events/39114-secret-subsidies-program-meant-to-help-farmers-in-trade-war-overspent-lacked.md) | -1.1% | -1.4% |
| CORN | 2018-11-19 | [A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump’s Trade War Has Aided Few - The New York Times](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62028-a-12-billion-program-to-help-farmers-stung-by-trump-s-trade-war-has-aided-few.md) | -1.4% | +8.5% |
| CORN | 2021-01-05 | [Pandemic Tops Trade War in USDA Payments to Farmers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/49114-pandemic-tops-trade-war-in-usda-payments-to-farmers.md) | +3.1% | +14.6% |
| CORN | 2019-05-21 | [U.S. to favour soybeans in trade war aid for farmers - Bloomberg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58949-u-s-to-favour-soybeans-in-trade-war-aid-for-farmers-bloomberg.md) | +2.4% | +10.9% |
| CORN | 2021-10-18 | [Harvesting Another Trade War: Ad Hoc Farm Subsidies and Our WTO Commitments - R Street Institute](https://feedsoft.ai/events/44522-harvesting-another-trade-war-ad-hoc-farm-subsidies-and-our-wto-commitments-r.md) | +1.5% | +13.0% |
| SOY | 2022-10-24 | [Secret Subsidies: Program meant to help farmers in trade war overspent, lacked transparency and compliance checks](https://feedsoft.ai/events/39114-secret-subsidies-program-meant-to-help-farmers-in-trade-war-overspent-lacked.md) | -0.6% | +2.3% |
| SOY | 2018-11-19 | [A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump’s Trade War Has Aided Few - The New York Times](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62028-a-12-billion-program-to-help-farmers-stung-by-trump-s-trade-war-has-aided-few.md) | -3.4% | +1.7% |
| SOY | 2021-01-05 | [Pandemic Tops Trade War in USDA Payments to Farmers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/49114-pandemic-tops-trade-war-in-usda-payments-to-farmers.md) | +4.4% | +2.9% |

## Sources

- agriculture.com: https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/secret-subsidies-program-meant-to-help-farmers-in-trade-war-overspent-lacked

---
Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.