Hours before he became the lone Republican senator to vote against the confirmation of ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the pages of a major Kentucky paper to bash the president.
In a column for the Courier-Journal. McConnell launched a full-scale attack on the president’s plan to use tariffs to solve America’s economic woes, with the long time GOP leader claiming they will have the exact opposite effect.
As McConnell bluntly put it: “No matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy.”
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“Broad-based tariffs could have long-term consequences right in our backyard. Consider our state’s 75,000 family farms that sell their crops around the globe, or the hardworking Kentuckians who craft 95% of the world’s bourbon, or our auto industry that relies on global supply chains to support the livelihoods of thousands of workers in the commonwealth,” he wrote before adding, “One estimate suggests the president’s tariffs could cost the average Kentuckian up to $1,200 each year.”
McConnell noted that Kentucky’s economy is close tied to international trade, explaining, “In Kentucky, over 60% of all counties are home to at least one international business. These are industrial suppliers, auto manufacturers and makers of consumer goods from across the world that support roughly 100,000 jobs in the commonwealth.”
Addressing Trump’s belligerent attacks on U.S. allies while using trade as a cudgel, the Kentucky senator wrote, “But preserving the long-term prosperity of American industry and workers requires working with our allies, not against them. Trade wars with our partners hurt working people most. And the president has better tools to protect American workers without forcing our families and businesses to absorb higher costs.”
Story Summary
- Tariffs are bad policy that make it more expensive to do business in America, driving up consumer costs.
- The Trump administration’s broad-based tariffs could have long-term consequences for Kentucky businesses that sell their products around the globe or rely on global supply chains.
- Preserving the long-term prosperity of American industry and workers requires working with our allies, not against them. Trade wars hurt working people the most.
Little under a century ago, an ill-fated law helped spiral the Wall Street crash of 1929 into a worldwide depression. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff encompassed roughly one-quarter of all imports, flaring tensions with U.S. trading partners and halving American imports and exports as a result. Caught in the crosshairs, Americans learned the hard way that trade wars are expensive, and today, we ought to be careful deciding with whom to pick them.
In recent weeks, the president sought to impose sweeping tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, as well as key imports, such as steel and aluminum. While the administration walked back plans to levy 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada — paused now for 30 days as both nations brokered deals to tighten border security and crack down on illegal drugs — the president’s aggressive proposals leave big, lingering concerns for American industry and workers.
Indeed, it’s high time for America’s closest neighbors to take the crisis at our border seriously. But no matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy. As Sen. Rand Paul, put it: “Tariffs are simply taxes… Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices.” So Republicans ought to be clear-eyed about the full, unadulterated impact of tariffs as we work to restore sound fiscal policy to our government.
