Leahy On Trump Tariffs: President Risks A Scorching Trade War That Would Harm VT Producers And Workers

Statement

The President's rash actions again show that he has no real ideas about how to increase American manufacturing jobs. Slapping tariffs on three of our four largest trade partners would be bad enough, since retaliatory tariffs will erode demand for American exports. But the President incredibly is also acting without any plan to invest in American steel and aluminum workers here at home to take any advantage of this action.

Canada is Vermont's largest trading partner, and Vermonters stand to lose big under this ham-handed policy. Vermont brewers for example have told me that the uncertainty has already raised the price of their cans, and the promised EU and Mexican tariffs on U.S. cheese are another example of the reckless harm the President is risking for Vermont and the nation. That he is doing it all under the guise of national security in the same week that he tweeted he would cut China a break on ZTE -- an actual national security issue -- demonstrates how erratic and ungrounded his actions are, threatening the system of U.S.-led alliances that greatly aid our farmers and manufacturers in selling American goods abroad.

These actions are not a path to fair trade, they are a path to failed trade.

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