Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday that both he and farmers in his state are “very nervous” about President Trump’s trade brinksmanship, and warned that Trump’s trade wars with Europe, China, and others could be “catastrophic” for the U.S. if Trump’s plan backfires.
“I’m very, very nervous about it, and my constituents are very, very nervous about it,” Grassley said on Fox News. “It doesn’t just affect the 5 percent of the people in Iowa that operate farms. It ripples through the whole economy.”
Trump has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to protect those U.S. industries, and has hit China with tariffs, and has threatened more tariffs against China, to protest China’s failure to respect intellectual property rights and its predatory investment rules. China has hit back by imposing tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports.
Grassley said as a free trader, he wants Trump to fight China’s unfair trade practices, but warned Trump’s approach comes with heavy risks.
“The uncertainty of it is very bad, and we do know this,” Grassley said. “That if the president, the negotiator he is, brings these negotiations to the brink, and if he doesn’t go over the brink, we know that it’s going to be better for the United States, but if he does go over the brink, it’s going to be catastrophic.”
Grassley said Trump’s philosophy on trade is to negotiate for as long as possible to get the best deal, and said he hopes that plan works.
“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Grassley said. “It’s making people nervous.”
