Updated at 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday: Revised to include comment from Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a plan to provide $12 billion in emergency assistance to farmers in Texas and beyond who are suffering from the effects of President Donald Trump's sprawling trade war.

The action from the U.S. Agriculture Department underscores the ongoing toll from Trump's trade agenda, particularly now that China and others have retaliated against the president's slate of tariffs by imposing levies often aimed at America's agricultural community.

In Texas alone, retaliation on critical crops like cotton, grain sorghum and soybeans accounts for a large portion of the billions of dollars in exports now covered by payback levies.

"Other nations cannot bully our agricultural producers to force the United States to cave in," Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said.

It's unclear how the need for such aid squares with Trump's boast on Tuesday that "tariffs are the greatest" or his earlier insistence that "trade wars are good and easy to win." Some of Trump's fellow Republicans are also already balking at the idea of a government-funded bailout for a trade war they oppose.

And while Texas Farm Bureau spokesman Gary Joiner said the announcement was "good news for Texas farmers and ranchers," he was quick to add that "this is not the ultimate goal."

"The ultimate goal is to secure additional trading partners and trading opportunities for farmers and ranchers so they have a predictable environment going forward," said Joiner, whose group has long been raising concerns about the administration's trade approach.

Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that - and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018

Trump had months ago asked Perdue to come up with a way to protect American farmers — part of his base support in Texas and other strongholds — from bearing the brunt of a trade conflict.

The resulting aid package, which doesn't need congressional approval, will use existing USDA programs to provide direct assistance and other forms of short-term relief starting in September. It will rely in part on a Depression-era program known as the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Perdue said last week that some kind of mitigation was only appropriate when farmers are "disrupted by trade actions that they had nothing to do with."

"They are some of the best patriots in America," Perdue said last week at a forum hosted by Axios. "But they can't pay the bills with patriotism."

Trade agenda moving on many fronts

News of the Trump administration's move to protect U.S. farmers came on a day when the president's protectionist trade agenda ripped through Washington on multiple fronts.

There was the impending arrival of European Union officials to discuss trade tensions. There was a trade hearing on Trump's plan to put levies on $16 billion more in Chinese goods. There was a congressional hearing on the product exclusion process for Trump's metal tariffs

In the face of that flurry of activity, Trump was resolute.

He promised that his trade actions would end up boosting American workers, with farmers being the "biggest beneficiary." He shrugged off any criticism, saying the U.S. is already "the 'piggy bank' that's being robbed." He vowed to enact even more tariffs if other countries don't come to heel.

"Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs," he wrote on Twitter. "It's as simple as that."

President Trump encourages farmers to "just be a little patient" as he works on trade deals because they will "the biggest beneficiary." https://t.co/NnrYLtrpuz pic.twitter.com/etOI42j2oO — CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) July 24, 2018

Complicating factors

But simple is not often the word used these days to describe the ripple effects of Trump's trade tiff, which has now enveloped America's biggest trading partners and, in turn, complicated matters for a wide range of businesses and industries.

Just ask Craig Dean, president of Dallas-based Dean Technology.

He testified at the trade hearing on Tuesday that Trump's upcoming slate of tariffs would increase the cost to make the high-voltage electronics in which his company specializes, likely force his company to shift jobs overseas and do little to get China to change its trading practices.

Or ask Willie Chiang, incoming chief executive of Plains All American Pipeline, a Fortune 500 energy company based in Houston.

He told the House Ways and Means Committee about how the feds had denied his company's request for a tariff exemption on steel pipe it had ordered from abroad months ago. He said the clunky process, if not improved, could jeopardize pipeline projects — and jobs along the way.

Without changes, Chiang said, "the tariffs will result in significant negative unintended consequences to national security, American energy dominance and balance of trade."

Or ask for opinions on what Trump's trade approach means for farmers and ranchers, even after the USDA's announcement about short-term assistance.

Many in Texas's ag industry have been willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, even as retaliatory tariffs threaten their bottom lines. Perdue has highlighted that dynamic, saying last week that many farmers "understand some of the reasons that the president has taken this on."

At least one key Texas lawmaker on Tuesday also backed Trump's strategy.

"Our president stood up to a bully; now he's standing up for rural America," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Midland, said, according to The Washington Post.

GOP pushback

But many others blasted the administration's latest move.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said it's "becoming more and more like a Soviet-type economy here," according to Politico. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said that "if tariffs punish farmers, the answer is not welfare for farmers — the answer is remove the tariffs."

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said this "trade war is cutting the legs out from under farmers and White House's 'plan' is to spend $12 billion on gold crutches."

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said that "it's not a good idea to spend money we don't have when we have better choices," such as passing a farm bill or finalizing a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was blunt on Wednesday, calling the aid package a "mistake."

"The answer should not be government aid," Cruz said in an interview on the Chad Hasty Radio Show. "It should be allowing farmers and ranchers to sell their goods."