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WASHINGTON, May 27-- U.S. farm groups are urging the federal government to resolve trade disputes soon, saying they want open markets to export their products rather than short-term aid. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday announced a trade aid package that would provide up to 16 billion U.S. dollars to farmers who have been hit hard by the U.S.-initiated trade war with other major trading partners. "While farmers themselves will tell you they'd rather have trade than aid, without the trade that has been possible, then they're going to need some support," said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. The White House has slapped high tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of imports, provoking retaliatory levies on U.S. agricultural products such as soybeans, which have curtailed U.S. agricultural exports and pushed commodity prices down even further. "Family farmers and ranchers have been grappling with low commodity prices and excess production for many years now, and the trade war with China and other major trading partners has compounded both problems," said Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, which advocates on behalf of nearly 200,000 American farm families and their communities. Johnson said he believes this trade aid package is "only a short-term fix" for a very long-term problem, as it fails to provide "predictable, consistent and adequate relief" across American agriculture. | 
