02/06/2025

How Gutting USAID Will Hurt American Farmers and Businesses

The effects of defunding it could be devastating to farmers

The Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which his officials have said is intended to rein in wasteful spending, has left American workers in limbo and threatens billions of dollars the agency spends on American businesses and organizations, global development experts and industry representatives told The Washington Post.

USAID oversees projects such as food aid, disaster relief and health programs in more than 100 countries with a staff of more than 10,000 and a budget of around $40 billion. Billions of those dollars flowed back into the American economy until President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign-aid spending last month.

Now U.S. businesses that sold goods and services to USAID are in limbo. That includes American farms, which supply about 41 percent of the food aid that the agency, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), sends around the world each year, according to a 2021 report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In 2020, the U.S. government bought $2.1 billion in food aid from American farmers.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.