FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue speaks during an event hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump with workers on "Cutting the Red Tape, Unleashing Economic Freedom" in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department is preparing to roll out the second tranche of aid to compensate farmers for losses due to the U.S.-China trade war, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Thursday.

“We’ll be getting it ready hopefully by the end of this month or early December,” Perdue said in a call with reporters.

The payments are part of a $16 billion aid package announced in May to be paid in three separate tranches.