'There’s going to be pain': Tensions over tariffs soar between GOP senators and Trump trade advisor

18 February

During his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump vowed to impose major tariffs on the United States' trading partners if he won the election. And President Trump didn't back down from that promise after returning to the White House.

Trump order 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, although he agreed to delay them by 30 days. And Trump is also considering tariffs on U.S. trading partners in Europe.

But Trump's pro-tariff agenda is getting some pushback in his party. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), former GOP leader in the U.S. Senate, was vehemently critical of Trump's pro-tariff agenda in an op-ed published by the Louisville Courier-Journal on February 12. McConnell warned residents of his state that the tariffs will be costly for both businesses and consumers.

But Trump adviser Peter Navarro, on the other hand, is a major proponent of tariffs.

In an article published on February 17, the Wall Street Journal's Gavin Bade describes tensions between Navarro and GOP senators who don't share his passion for high tariffs.

"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been in place for weeks alongside Navarro, as has Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council," Bade explains. "Both of them are more recent converts to Trump's tariff agenda, and people familiar with the dynamics have said that Bessent has largely counseled him to take a more cautious approach to tariffs, advice Trump seems to have spurned thus far. The influence of Navarro, one of a few of Trump's first-term inner circle returning for a second run, is causing some consternation on Capitol Hill, especially among Republicans with agriculture or manufacturing in their states."

Bade adds, "They have expressed concern about the White House's no-exceptions approach to tariffs and how that approach might spark inflation and retaliation from other countries."

One of the GOP senators expressing concern, Bade reports, is conservative Sen. Thom Tillis. The North Carolina Republican is hoping that if trade representative nominee Jamieson Greer is confirmed by the U.S. Senate sooner rather than later, it will offset Navarro's influence.

Tillis told the WSJ, "That's why we gotta get Greer confirmed…. There are some people advising the president who view every tariff as found money. There are revenues to be derived from tariffs, but they have to be discounted against markets closing."

Far-right Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), a major Trump supporter, warns that severe tariffs will have a negative impact in his state.

Johnson told WSJ, "Even the president has admitted there’s going to be pain (from tariffs), and I think in Wisconsin we’re going to have a lot of people experiencing that pain…. I'm hoping the administration is going to be sensitive to that and help alleviate that."

Read the full Wall Street Journal article at this link (subscription required).

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