Yesterday USDA Secretary Perdue noted that the second tranche of trade relief would likely be coming no later than December. Previously, there was speculation that not all the funds would be used. In a press interview on 9 October, Perdue himself said that spending could be less than $12 billion given the completion of the USMCA trade deal. As we predicted on 24 July (see Trade Mitigation Funds), “… once an aid package of $12 billion is announced before an election, all involved can count on the full total being spent.” Perdue walked back that speculation to calm fears that the second tranche of payments might not be made. He did, however, indicate that the program would not continue into 2019, which is a nonelection yea...