((The hill) -The Republican legislator grows alarmed by the signs that the growing trade war of President Trump violates the economy, what they hear from the voters at home, which have difficulty adapting to Trump’s zigzag expression from tariffs.
The GOP legislators say that they hear from business owners, exporters, farmers and local leaders that Trump’s danger from steep tariffs against Canada, Mexico and Europe shakes their business atmosphere in the USA.
Companies are less confident of expanding business and hiring recent employees in view of their uncertainty about the costs of imported goods and the potential loss of foreign markets next year.
“The Canadian tariffs will definitely have a disadvantage on the Maine economy and in particular on border communities,” said Senator Susan Collins (R-Main). “For example, we have a large paper mill in North Main directly on the border, which gets its pulp from Canada.”
“This mill alone, which is by far the largest employer in the region, employs 510 people directly. I spoke to the owner of this mill that the introduction of a 25 percent tariff could be devastating, ”she warned.
Trump announced on Thursday that he would pause 25 percent tariffs from Canada and Mexico by April 2, but Collins warned that the impending threat of high fees has a terrifying effect on the economy of their state.
“I think it freezes investments until you know exactly how the effects will work. Therefore, I understand the president’s request to suspend the field, but Canada is not the problem in Maine, ”she said, quoting wood products, blueberries, lobster and potatoes that go across the border as vital drivers of the economy.
Senator Randa Paul (R-Ky.) Said that he heard a flood of complaints from managing directors in Kentucky on the potential effects of Trump’s trade policy on the local economy.
“I have every large industry in Kentucky that praises me: the freight dealers, the farmers, the Bourbon manufacturers, the house builders, the house sellers – as they call it – fence manufacturers,” said Paul to The Hill.
“The Bourbon industry says they are still injured if they violate the retaliation duties in Trump’s first term,” he said. “The farmers too.”
He said the federal government had to pay farmers 20 to 30 billion US dollars in the “last government” to alleviate the economic effects of tariffs.
“It shows the mistake of believing in a guideline of the tariffs if they have to borrow a few money immediately and give people their injuries,” he said. “There have to be republicans who still impress the advantages of international trade.”
A Republican senator who asked to speak to the anonymity to speak to the hill said that the Republicans would suffer a political counter -reaction when the economy breaks down, and predicted that Trump’s tariff threats in connection with the urge of Tech -Mogul Elon Elon Musk will blame the expenditure of the federal government.
“People are concerned that we will be successful shortly before the stock market,” said the senator of fears that have been shared by GOP senators about the direction of the economy.
The S&P 500 on Friday ended the worst trade week since September, in which all profits of the stock exchange were wiped out since Trump’s election in November. In the meantime, the Nasdaq Composite fell in correction area on Friday. Financial stocks such as JPMorgan, Chase and Bank of America were some of the largest losers of the week.
A second Republican senator who asked for anonymity to talk to the hill about a sensitive political topic expressed the hope that turbulence on the Trump stock exchange would pretend to withdraw from the tariffs as the core element of its economic strategy.
“Perhaps if his permits continue to dive and the economy begins to pinch, maybe”, Trump will shift to the tariffs, “but in the meantime, what damage do we do?” Asked the senator.
“Tomorrow he could lift all of these sanctions that he was doing yesterday. It’s crazy, ”the senator noticed.
The White House announced at the weekend that Trump would continue with tariffs in Canada and Mexico as part of the international emergency management law, before taking a break for the second time on Thursday.
The GOP legislators fear that the tariff fights will risk the risk of dampening the broader economy.
The Ministry of Labor reported on Friday that the economy added 151,000 jobs in February, among the 170,000 jobs, of which the economists had predicted, would be created last month. The unemployment rate rose slightly from 4 percent to 4.1 percent.
In February, private employers only hired 77,000 employees who, according to ADP research, have been the smallest escalate since July.
At the US Monetary Political Forum in New York on Friday, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell said that the country’s economy was still resilient, but warned that there were “high” uncertainties on the economic effects of Trump’s trade policy.
He said the Fed would wait for “greater clarity” before making decisions about monetary policy and signals that the US Central Bank would be willing to enter if the economy suddenly slowed down.
He said that tariffs “the exporters, importers, retailers and to a certain extent will meet consumers”.
Atlanta Fed’s GDPNOW tracker was projected at the end of the last month that the gross domestic product (GDP) was 1.5 percent on the right track in the first quarter.
The US consumer mood fell to a 15-month low in February, since the views of the Americans over their purchase power over the views of the Americans’ views, according to Michigan’s university surveys.
Trump fluctuated the turbulence on the stock markets on Thursday and informed reporters that the United States would benefit from his politics.
“I don’t even look on the market, because in the long term the United States will be very strong with what is happening here,” he said in the Oval Office.
Trump often accepted the booming stock market during his first term when the S&P 500 increased by 67 percent for four years despite the Covid 19 pandemic, which paralyzed the economy for months.
Senator Mike Rounds (Rs.d.), who will be for re -election next year, said that farmers in South Dakota strongly support Trump, but they tell him that he should pass on the message to Washington that the threats of tariffs weigh heavily about their business prospects.
“These are really strong Trump supporters. Most of them say: “We understand it. We don’t like the idea. You have to talk to him about which tariffs will do, ”he said of farmers in his home state.
“They say:” We get it, but you have to tell him how seriously we are worried, “he added.
However, rounds predicted that the market would collapse if Trump could manage to reduce the deficit and reduce interest rates.
“As soon as we have got some stability, I think the market will return and I think the interest rates will start to fall, which will really drive the markets,” he said. “The most important thing we can do now is the public order that lowers interest rates.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), whose home state Mexico counts as the largest trading partner, hopes that the uncertainty about the tariffs will “put down” soon.
“I saw that the president decided not to impose the 25 percent tariffs in Canada and Mexico. Hopefully things will calm down, ”he said. “I think many of the growth -strong things that the President of Energy and Regulation does and honestly rolls up many expenses, which was the main fuel for inflation.
But he warned that “the markets prefer stability than uncertainty”.
The trade between Texas and Mexico was $ 272 billion in 2023.
