Chuck Grassley is one of two US senators applying for money under a $12 billion White House program to bail out farmers hurt by the trade war President Trump started, leading to retaliatory tariffs from China on pork and soybeans that could cost Iowans over half a billion dollars in revenue from exports.
The Washington Post asked lawmakers if they would take personal advantage of the program. So far, only Grassley and Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, have acknowledged they would.
Grassley pushed Trump to provide the bailout funds in the spring after Chinese tariffs began affecting Iowa farmers as the president’s trade war heated up. Since then, the Trump administration has further provoked China, announcing tariffs on an additional $200 billion in products from the country.
“Sen. Grassley participates in farm programs for which he is legally eligible, including this program, like every other farmer,” Michael Zona, a spokesman for Grassley, whose net worth was more than $3.3 million as of 2015, told the Post. “Grassley receives no special treatment and is always transparent about his participation. As a family farmer, Sen. Grassley brings firsthand knowledge and experience on behalf of agriculture and rural America to the policymaking tables in Washington.”
