Wyden: Trump Tariffs Will Make Everything More Expensive, Solve Zero Problems and Harm American Farmers and Small Businesses
Wyden Blasts Announcement of Blanket, Arbitrary New Taxes on Products from Canada, Mexico and China; Working Families Will Be Hit Hardest
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., warned that blanket, arbitrary 25 percent tariffs announced by the White House today on products from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent tariffs on products from China would immediately hammer working Americans with higher prices, while accomplishing little.
“Slapping huge tariffs on gas, groceries, phones, TVs, and cars means working American families are going to pay more for the things they need,” Wyden said. “These tariffs only make sense as class warfare, forcing typical Americans to foot the bill for another round of tax breaks for Trump and his rich buddies. If Trump’s trade war continues, there’s no doubt U.S. workers will lose their jobs when Canada, Mexico, and China retaliate and slap tariffs on made-in-the-USA products.
“I’m all for cracking down on China’s trade cheating, blocking fentanyl smuggling and shoring up the border, but Trump’s random tariff actions are just a pointless attack on American families. This is not in any way a genuine effort to address fentanyl overdoses. The Trump administration knows that, and it’s disgusting that they’re exploiting the fentanyl epidemic as cover for Trump’s tariffs.”
Wyden has strongly supported enforcing U.S. trade laws and cracking down on unfair trade cheating by China. He authored the ENFORCE Act to strengthen trade enforcement tools, forced the Trump administration to go back to the bargaining table for key labor protections in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and supported targeted tariffs in response to dumping of solar panels and other goods by China. However, Wyden also has warned repeatedly that Trump’s haphazard, erratic tariff actions, particularly on U.S. allies, including Canada and Mexico, would do significant harm to Americans without solving the problems Trump used to justify his actions.
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