Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY.) on Thursday showed President Trump's threat to tariffs on his major US trading partners hurt his members and said, “When we start losing, you're backing.”
“I will continue to oppose tariffs as almost every industry in Kentucky came to me and said, 'It's going to hurt our industry and push the prices of our homes, cars,' so I'll continue to oppose tariffs,” Paul said in an interview with CNN late Thursday.
Kentucky Republicans argued that the US has more “leverage” than any other country, but not “all leverage.” He urged the Trump administration to be “wise” about collecting additional taxes and mutual tariffs.
“If we start losing, you're backing down. According to the clip, there's something like a strategic retreat,” he said. Emphasised by MediaIte.
His comments came after Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) criticized the Trump administration's policies on tariffs and suggested he was “worried.”
“I think President Trump is doing very well with economics or not, but you remember the old days, “The risk of rising high is that the air is thinning.” Kennedy told Fox Business's Larry Kudrow on Thursday.
“We are in unknown waters,” he added later. “I think the president will leave them if tariffs start to cause inflation.”
Trump's 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, paired with an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods, and came into effect Tuesday. The president defended tariffs by arguing that the nation had not adequately addressed fentanyl from its own country entering the United States.
In response, Canada has enacted a 25% tariff on goods worth $30 billion.
The president later suspended tariffs on Canada-Mexico imports subject to the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada agreement, including cars. The suspension will continue until April 2nd, after which taxes and mutual duties will be imposed, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“Hopefully Mexico and Canada will do a good job with fentanyl, and this part of the conversation will go off the table.
