Republican Sen. Cory Gardner wants President Trump to work with lawmakers to narrow the scope of his steel and aluminum tariffs because he’s concerned they’ll act as a tax hike on Americans.
“I am concerned that a tariff can result in a tax on the very same people that we are trying to help in this economy, that they can actually be hurt instead of being helped by this action, so let’s work, and spend the next few weeks trying to figure out exactly how narrowly tailored the tariffs can be, and go after the bad actors,” he said on CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
Gardner, of Colorado, said Trump’s decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports have made him worried about the possibility of a trade war.
He said it’s possible that imposing trade restrictions on allies could lead to them reciprocating and targeting U.S. businesses.
Some of that is already happening, with the European Union promising to impose tariffs on bourbon, blue jeans and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
“Where we are going to get this wrong is if we start into a trade war that results in our allies penalizing us, increasing costs of consumer goods, making it more difficult for the American people to afford goods that they commonly buy at the grocery store,” Gardner said.
“I am particularly concerned about the impact this could have on agriculture because that is really going to be in the front lines of any kind of trade retaliation that we see and, in a big ag state right here where most of our top 10 exports are agriculture, so we have to get this right and narrowly tailor this to the bad actors.
“I do believe that in general, tariffs are a tax on the American people and the people who are going to be harmed by this are the very people who are trying to help so much, the people who have struggled far too long.”
