Republican senators told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Wednesday that they have serious concerns that the White House’s trade policy is backfiring and hurting U.S. consumers and companies.
Employers that rely on imports are suffering because of the Trump administration’s tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, they said. Farmers also are suffering from retaliatory tariffs.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, pointed to a Salt Lake City company called Bish Steel Fabrication whose foreign contracts had “dried up” and another local business called Jack’s Ornamental Iron, which saw its steel costs jump 20 percent since the tariffs went into effect.
“I just don’t see how the damage posed on all of these sectors could possibly advance our national security,” Hatch said during a hearing on the president’s trade actions. He argued that the tariffs were poorly aimed. “Of the steel and aluminum products targeted, only around 5 percent are from China.”
Ross argued that China’s exports to the U.S. are larger than they appear because it has been moving its products through secondary markets. That’s why the tariffs had to be broad-based, he said.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said retaliatory tariffs from countries hit by the tariffs are hurting farmers in his state. “Mexico is buying its wheat from Argentina and their corn from Brazil. That’s the problem. We could be in a situation where we lose that market.”
