Even as the Trump administration continues to escalate its tariff battles with countries across the world in an attempt to negotiate what it claims are unfair trade deals, it has announced a massive relief package of over $12 billion for American farmers to compensate for the losses incurred from trade disputes with foreign buyers of US agricultural products.

The first instalment of nearly $4.7 billion will be distributed to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean, and wheat farmers. The prices of these commodities have plunged ever since Trump kicked off a trade battle with China, Canada, the European Union and Mexico. Around $3.6 billion will be paid to the Soybean farmers, who have been the worst affected by the trade war due to China’s retaliatory tariff.

Nearly $200 million from the relief package will be made available to develop foreign markets for US agricultural products. The country’s agricultural exporters will be helped with access to new markets and assisted in mitigating the adverse effects of other countries’ restrictions.

US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today made a detailed announcement on the actions the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will take to “assist farmers in response to what trade damage from unjustified retaliation by foreign nations.”

Perdue said that these relief measures are a part of short-term relief strategy to protect American agricultural producers while Trump Administration work on “free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets, in the long run, to help American farmers compete globally.”