President Trump has sparked fears among Senate Republicans of a possible trade war after he announced a new round of tariffs against China Monday, his latest move in a very public fight on tariffs.
The White House announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods on Monday night, and threatened to hit $200 billion more worth of Chinese goods if China retaliates, which it’s expected to do. This has left Republicans from agricultural states in particular worried that after a few months of quiet, Trump is now ready to plunge into a trade war.
“We don’t need a trade war, and that’s unfortunately what I think we’re getting into,” Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, who noted the effect on sorghum production in his state. “We can’t go on like this.”
“If the president’s plan doesn’t work and China doesn’t cave and they continue these tariffs on our agriculture products … it’s going to be catastrophic for not just the farmers of Iowa, but for the economy of Iowa because agriculture’s a big thing,” he told the Washington Examiner.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to appear before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday in what Roberts expects will be a “very interesting” hearing. He also said that while he hopes Trump can secure a deal and get China to live up to their World Trade Organization obligations, his moves now are already hurting agriculture.
“You don’t do something that causes retaliation to the entire agriculture food industry from the farmer, the rancher, and the grower all the way up to the food chain,” he said. “That has all sorts of bad effects.”
Republicans are also worried that a trade war that hurts U.S. agricultural producers and possibly other industries might also hurt them in the midterm elections.
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“I think there’s some apprehension that all the great economic news is going to be tempered by the uncertainty associated by all the trade issues,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “The administration’s got a lot of balls in the air with trying to figure out what the end game is on all of this.”
Republicans have been steadfast defenders of the president on most issues, but tariffs are one issue where they have been more than willing to break with the administration. Still, Senate Republicans recently balked when they had a chance to do something about it.
Last week, GOP leaders killed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, proposed by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., that would have required congressional approval for tariffs enacted for a national security purpose.
Nevertheless, Republicans remain critical of the administration’s handling of trade. Particularly, they aim their fire at the small pro-tariff crowd in the White House that has wielded significant influence on this issue.
“I don’t see any real positive features of tariffs, I really don’t. … I think the president’s gotten some pretty poor advice. The one fellow is a really big tariff guy,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in reference to Peter Navarro, Trump’s main trade adviser. “And I just disagree with him on almost everything.”
