'We gotta be smart': Republicans warn 'we’re in uncharted waters' as Trump flip-flops on tariffs

07 March

U.S. Sen Thom Tillis (R-NC) attends the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany February 14, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

CNN’s Washington anchor Jake Tapper on Thursday spoke with congressional correspondent Lauren Fox about bipartisan responses to the on-again, off-again tariff policy on Canada and Mexico that President Donald Trump has been exercising since February 1st, Mediaite reports.

Originally, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico. He then delayed the implementation from Feb 4 to March 4, effectively pausing what was a stern new policy – and a key part of his campaign. Almost immediately, he made an announcement that he would pause tariffs on the Big Three U.S. auto manufacturers, directly at their request. His next pause came a day later on March 6 when he once again paused tariffs, but this time on all Canadian and Mexican goods, so far as they were in compliance with his first term United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) he signed.

On Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-K) told CNN, “Almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said, ‘It will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes, cars,’ so I’m gonna continue to argue against tariffs.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) agreed there’s reason to keep a watchful eye on tariffs.

“When we start losing, you back off. There’s such a thing as strategic retreat,” the senator said. “At the end of the day, I think we have more leverage than any other nation. But we gotta be smart. And we don’t have all the leverage.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told Fox Business he has some concerns as well.

“I’m worried about the tariffs,” he said. “I’m not saying that tariffs are going to cause inflation. President Trump did them in his first term and they didn’t. I’m saying that we just don’t know and we’re in very obscure territory. We’re in uncharted waters.”

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Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) meanwhile told Fox she’s “shocked” to hear Trump’s latest turn of events, even going so far as to ask the congressional correspondent about some of the specific developments in the ongoing trade saga. Still, the congressional Democrat warned farmers in her state are tired of the president’s “chaotic” approach to tariffs.

Watch the video below or at this link.

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