President Trump has found himself increasingly isolated from Republicans as he works to diffuse a potential trade war with the European Union and provide assistance to Americans whose businesses have suffered as a result of tit-for-tat tariffs with China.
The president’s decision last week to grant as much as $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers who have been caught in the crosshairs of his trade demands angered several GOP lawmakers, including some of the most ardent supporters of his agenda.
“Tariffs are taxes that punish American consumers and producers. If tariffs punish farmers, the answer is not welfare for farmers — the answer is remove the tariffs,” tweeted Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who came under fire just a week earlier for being one of the only GOP senators to defend Trump’s press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Like others from his party, Paul has consistently urged the Trump administration to take “tough” actions against countries that cheat the U.S. on trade. But the Kentucky senator has urged the president to do so without hurting U.S. consumers or taxing “our most important trading partners,” two things the White House has already been accused of doing in pursuit of fair and reciprocal trade practices. The National Farmers Union estimated earlier this month that American corn, soybean and wheat farmers “have already lost a collective $13 billion” due to the current administration’s trade policies.
“This is a self-inflicted wound,” said Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa. “My hope is that this $12 million gives back to farmers in need during his time when they’re going to lose money. My further hope is that the EU, China, and other countries realize the president is serious and they come to the negotiating table.”
[More: Businesses grow impatient with Trump’s trade war]
Costello, who plans to retire this fall, warned early on that Trump’s “simplistic notion that trade wars are good” could damage domestic manufacturing operations and industries, including some in his home state.
“I just don’t see a scenario where the EU cooperates or allows this to happen without retaliatory measures that are going to have an impact on a lot of consumers in this country,” Costello told NPR in a prescient interview two months before Trump followed through on his threat to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from the EU members, Canada and Mexico.
Several Republicans who criticized the president for bailing out farmers harmed by his trade policies simultaneously questioned whether the move itself was fair to other industries.
“Where do you draw the line?” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked reporters after the Department of Agriculture announced its $12 billion aid package, noting that the manufacturing and energy industries have also suffered.
Meanwhile, the president and his team have encouraged Republicans to have patience and reserve their criticism as negotiations continue. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said at an event in Washington on Wednesday that trade policy is unusually difficult because “you have to get the Chinese and other countries to do what you want them to do and change their behavior.”
“Would it be what I would want to do if I was the president? No, but I’m not the president,” Mulvaney said, adding that he is “100 percent comfortable coming to defend these policies, because I know in part the president has heard all different sides of the argument.”
Trump responded to the onslaught of criticism from members of his own party with a series of tweets, in which he warned trade talks with the EU and others could stall if “weak” politicians continue to question the direction and consequences of his policies.
“When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity,” the president wrote, adding that “the end result will be worth it.”
But it’s not just Republicans who have condemned the president’s actions on trade, questioned his strategy, and highlighted the harm inflicted on various industries. Business groups, congressional Democrats, and top foreign leaders have all censured the White House in the months since Trump first threatened tariffs on billions in foreign goods, and piled on last week after he announced the emergency relief for farmers.
“Tariffs are beginning to take a toll on American businesses, workers, farmers and consumers as overseas markets close to American-made products and prices increase here at home,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief executive Thomas Donohue said in a TV ad released this month that targets the administration over its trade policy.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Trump prior to a meeting at the White House last week that his administration should be focused on “reducing tariffs, not increasing them.” His comments came weeks after the EU penned a letter to Trump warning him of additional countermeasures if the U.S. slapped a 20 percent tariff on car imports.
But Trump and Junker emerged hours after their sit-down began to announce a framework of sorts for ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and EU, a truce that could quell the criticism from all sides if their agreement facilitates the complete elimination of tariffs and barriers that impact American and European products.
Just before the two men met in Washington, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom had warned of an additional $20 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods if the president refused to back away from his threat to impose trade levies on European vehicles. Malmstrom was later present for the White House meeting and subsequent announcement.
