Faced with years of falling prices and shrinking foreign markets, farmers throughout the Trump administration are struggling. Trump officials have sought to restore food producers’ finances by handing out billions in aid to keep the industry afloat.
The move: Trump’s USDA has sent billions in subsidies to farmers suffering from tariffs imposed abroad by the president’s trade wars, a sum that far surpasses the massive bailout in 2008.
The impact: The vast majority of the aid went to traditional farms, many of which were part of Trump’s political base. The government’s payments are expected to be at its highest level ever and net farm income this year will amount to nearly 40 percent.
The result: Biden faces a difficult choice in deciding whether to continue payments: the effects of Trump’s trade war will remain until 2021, and producers have relied on aid to keep things afloat. – Liz Crampton
Banking
Trump has reversed rules on banks to prevent another financial crisis
Trump fulfilled a major GOP priority in 2018 by signing the first major bill on deregulation of the bank since the exploration of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. It was a victory for the country’s creditors, who for years struggled to reinstate rules that followed Wall Street’s collapse in 2008. Republicans and moderate Democrats had already won some of the proposals worked, but the Trump administration played a key role in making that possible.
The move: The smallest banks have won relaxed bond regulations and streamlined capital requirements, while escaping the constraints intended to discourage risky bets in banking trading. A number of major credit providers have escaped the Federal Reserve rules targeting the largest “systemically important” banks. One of the most controversial provisions in the legislation protects small borrowers from the disclosure of mortgage loans intended to combat discrimination. Opponents of the bill warned that it would harm consumers and that it was not necessary at a time when the industry was making record profits.
The impact: Since the adoption of the legislation, large banks that have agreed to the looser restrictions have begun to merge. SunTrust and BB&T combined in 2019 to form Truist, the eighth largest U.S. bank, with more than $ 504.3 billion in assets. PNC, the country’s ten largest credit provider, has agreed to buy US operations from BBVA to form another mega bank.
The result: Even with Democrats in control of Congress, it is unlikely they will try to undo the law, which has helped the party’s centralists. Biden’s nominees at regulatory agencies may reconsider some of the rules set for the implementation of the legislation, but it is unlikely to be a top priority. – Zachary Warmbrodt
Social media
Trump galvanizes a move against Silicon Valley in the IDP
Silicon Valley lawmakers have been pursuing Article 230 for years, a major 1996 legal provision that protects online platforms from litigation over the user content they offer or decide to restrict. But it was a niche issue until Trump stepped up the attacks over allegations that social media companies are biased against conservatives.
The move: Trump signed an executive order in May asking federal agencies to limit the liability protection of Article 230, which Republicans say is censorship of conservatives in Silicon Valley. Trump has also played an extraordinarily active role in pushing his allies at federal agencies and in Congress to weaken the legal shield.
The impact: Trump’s pressure prompted the Federal Communications Commission to launch a controversial decision – making process to “explain” the scope of Article 230. The Department of Justice has released its own proposal to bring it back. And the Republicans of Congress who were once on the verge of changing the law put together Trump’s efforts by introducing bills to do so.
The result: Although there is dual support for the overhaul of the law, the GOP-led efforts aimed at the prejudice charge are likely to be blocked by Democrats in Congress. – Cristiano Lima
Environmental impact
Trump has reduced environmental approvals for infrastructure projects